Undertale: Steven's Universe
by N0bodE
Summary: So close to a happy ending, everyone had gotten out of the underground, nobody knew about Chara and she didn't even want to fight anybody for once. Then some Gem things come along and get in the way of their happy ending and Frisk tries to talk to them. Which ends up failing dozens of times, so they let Chara take rein for once. A stress-relief fight.
1. Stress-Relief

(AN: For anybody recognizing the name of this story it's because a friend of mine decided to screw with me and figured out the password to this account and deleted one of my stories. But not both, dunno why. Anyways I decided to take advantage of it and change some problems that my advisor pointed out so there's been some changes to the overall story folks.)

It was a wonderful day, air brushing across their hair, sun glowing overhead, fresh air with the smell of flowers wafting in with the breeze. Roses, tulips, daisies, buttercups... it was… nostalgic to a sense, not a bad nostalgia but an okay one. Well it depended on which one a person would ask, though nobody would know to differ the question between the two of them. Not even an old friend, the only person to remember when time rewound itself, his memories of ever meeting the second person in the body having long been erased. Leaving him only with knowledge of Frisk, the peace-loving child that survived everything that the Underground could throw at them.

Chara would say something, but then that'd raise a lot of questions and she didn't want to bother with the annoying little flower. Said little buttercup with a face watching them from the treeline up ahead, waiting to watch the fight that was going to happen again. Frisk wanted to wave hi and Chara didn't care, so their hand went up to wave, which Flowey ignored. Probably because it was… what the tenth time they waved hi? She didn't know, it wasn't something to pay that much attention to.

No, while Frisk was busy messing with their body, including but not limited to rolling around in the grass, waving hi to Flowey again, crossing their arms behind their head and what not, she was instead thinking about those Gems coming back again. Four gem creatures, three of them female and one male, coming time and time again to investigate the monsters of Mt. Ebott. Said monsters being noticed by a nearby town full of people that panicked and a few law enforcement people that actually knew how to do their job and asked them to wait back at the mountain while they calmed down the people. And got used to the idea that there was an entire race living a couple miles away from them ever since they first made the town. So the monsters had all went back to the top of the mountain, leaving them alone at the bottom so they could think quietly to themselves.

Truth be told they were actually thinking, just about how to stop the Gems from going up to the mountain, the one named Garnet freaking out for some reason about timelines crashing and trying to fix it by killing everybody. No idea what that was about, not a single time they reset did they figure out what made her panic. Although she always seemed a bit… skittish… nervous? Something along those lines whenever they first met her, and every time after that they had to reset because somebody always died. Whether it was them, Mom, Papyrus or anybody else they called family, it was always another reset. It got on their nerves really quick.

So this time Frisk would let Chara have reign of their body and blow off some steam, something that they'd grown accustomed to over the timelines. After her insistence and the trauma of dying over and over starting to get to Frisk of course. So they laid on the ground waiting, Chara running their hand up and down the knife in their pocket, as she tried to figure out the best way to take advantage of this situation.

Scenarios ran through her mind, thinking of what was the best way to take care of them, Garnet with her oversized and overpowered gauntlets, Pearl with a spear, Amethyst and her whip then finally Steven and his shield. But it only took the Gems in question to arrive at the base of the mountain like before, Steven's voice wafting through first, complaining of walking too long. To which Pearl would say, "You're the one who insisted on coming along, besides it's good to exercise especially with all the snacks you've been eating."

"It's baby fat!" Steven yelled back from beyond the tree line. It'd be at most twenty seconds until the Gems came through, they were never quite sure why it differed. Nonetheless Chara stood up on their legs, dusting off the dirt that'd clung to the seat of their pants. Closing their eyes and letting out a sigh, Frisk retreated into the recesses of their mind, leaving Chara alone. It had been such a long time since Frisk had done that, it caught her off guard slightly, the silence in their head. It was a slight bit unnerving, but she'd done much more unnerving things in their shared history.

Striding forward she dipped their hands into their pockets, feeling the edge knife as the Gems finally came out of the treeline, Flowey already gone from their sight. Garnet was first, huge with square hair, red and black jumpsuit covering everything but her arms and weird fashioned gloves. The most annoying and violent of them all, always disregarding Frisk's pleas to not go up the mountain. Next was Pearl, tall and built like a ballerina, with a long beak-like nose she wore an impractical giant bow on her back. Amethyst, short and purple with a sleeveless shirt came second to last.

Finally was Steven, the only male among their group and the one that reminded her of Frisk a little. Pink shirt with a gold star in the middle paired with jeans and sandals he was always smiling when he first saw them, always ready to ask some version of the same question. After he pulled out the twigs in his hair and noticed them of course, not noticing the confused look on Amethyst and Pearl, or the downright scowl on Garnet's face. "Um hi! How are you doing?" Steven was sickeningly friendly, reminded her too much of Frisk. And this situation reminded her of another one with somebody that was too friendly for their own good.

Still though she kept them walking, finger dancing along the edge of the blade in their pocket, remaining silent the entire time. Their hair covered their eyes, so the only thing Steven and the Gems could see was the thin line that was their lip. Steven reached up to pull out another twig and kept smiling, with just a hint of concern in his voice. "Are you okay, we heard that there were some problems up around here, so we came to see what it was."

She kept walking and Garnet took a step forward protectively of Steven, who was still smiling. The corner of their mouth twitched, that damn smile, a smile she'd seen many times before on different people but it always annoyed her. And every time she saw that smile it annoyed her, always hopeful and ignorant and naive and just… she hated that smile. But she did enjoy getting rid of things she hated, it was always nice. She smiled back, a more cruel smile than Steven's, one that made his disappear.

Whipping out the knife she broke into a sprint, Garnet shoving Steven behind her and summoning the giant gauntlets she used as a weapon, instead this time using to block the low blow that would have hit Steven's face, and instead would have hit Garnet's thigh. Their knife clanged against the strange material of Garnet's gauntlet and Chara hopped back several times before she could retaliate, knowing better than to be near the gauntlets. Garnet looked at them from behind her sunglasses and pounded her gauntlets once. "That thing isn't human."

Chara laughed as she looked at the faces of everyone else, Steven scared, Pearl angry but slightly confused at Garnet's comment and Amethyst just plain angry. They had always seemed to baby Steven in all their encounters. "Aren't you the bright one Garnet? Care to kill me again like before where I plead for you to not do anything?" She grinned and traced their lips with the knife. "Well if you wanted to, that's too bad, I'm not going to lay down and take it."

Garnet simply raised an eyebrow at them, before looking back at the gems. "Make sure it doesn't get near Steven. I'll handle this" Pearl and Amethyst nodded, their weapons being summoned from forehead gem and chest gem respectively. A spear was held aloft, delicately hanging in white fingers and a whip was gripped in a purple fist, both blocking the way to Steven. At least the annoying smile was gone now, even though she didn't touch him. It still worked though, so she redirected her attention to Garnet in front of them, who was frowning down at them now, red gauntlets crossed.

"What, you scared of little ole' me hurting Steven over there?" She inclined their head towards Steven, watching Garnet for a reaction. Her comment garnered none from her and so she flipped the knife in their hand, so the blade was pointing down and held their hands up next to their face. With a smile Chara started to slowly walk forward, staring at the gauntlets that hung at her side, waiting for the slightest of movements to leap out of the way.

Garnet raised her fist up not fast, nor slow, but deliberately Chara tensed but otherwise remained still, not knowing what to expect. So when the gauntlet rocketed towards them, from only ten yards away she hit the ground, practically slamming their own head against the ground to dodge the fist as it flew overhead. She glanced back to the rocketing fist behind her, smirking at the fact she dodged that without Frisk's help, then returned her attention forward to see another fist about to slam into their face.

Distantly aware of the feeling of flying she noted in her mind that Garnet was a lot faster than what she believed her to be, maybe because of the fact that she threatened Steven. Was she a mother? A thump alerted her to the fact they landed, and so she pushed them up off it in short order, reaching up to feel for the source of wetness on their face and found a broken nose. Always one of the first things to go besides a broken leg and always one of the most annoying.

On wobbly legs she smiled through the minor stream of blood on their face, copper taste leaking through their teeth, and stared at Garnet. Gripping the knife she broke out into a full sprint, ignoring the relatively minor pain that drummed behind their eyelids. She was vaguely aware of Steven making some type of noise, likely crying again, but she paid no mind and focused on the gauntlets that raised themselves up to beat them into the ground again.

Garnet took several of her own steps forward to meet her halfway, bringing one fist rocketing down, which she simply pirouetted away from and sliced at the closest open spot she could, that spot being an open patch of skin on Garnet's arm. Keeping the motion going she rolled away, feeling the air whistling behind their back as Garnet missed and instead cracked the earth. Coming back up she twirled back towards Garnet to see another strike coming towards their face, and she felt a familiar and unnatural force take a hold of their legs and collapse them. That would be Frisk making them dodge another punch to the face, which she did appreciate.

Frisk rolled them to the side and she pushed them up off the ground, flipping the knife once more and giving Garnet a smile, who watched them with a frown. Again breaking out into a sprint she aimed the knife at Garnet's neck, so high out of reach. Before she could even get close though Garnet was the one to flash forward, gauntlets raised up to pummel them into the ground. Chara grinned and shifted the knife to their other hand and Frisk tensed their body up, but still letting Chara have them run.

The gauntlet flew for their face and Frisk bent their right leg down to skid underneath it, Chara slashing upwards at Garnet's arm. Kicking up off the ground Frisk made them cartwheel up and out of the way of another strike, and another swipe from Chara to her arm. The moment they stood up another fist came towards them and Frisk hopped to the side, its breeze kissing their cheek. Then Chara spotted another flash of red coming at an impossible angle out of the corner of their eye, and Frisk turned to dodge that one but wasn't prepared to and instead managed to maneuver them so it would do as little damage as possible.

Which ended up with the fist slamming into a raised knee and sending them flying back towards the mountain and slamming into the ground. Landing on the ground with an oof, Chara rode the waves of pain with a smile and rolled onto their good leg, cocking their head at Garnet's snaking arm, returning back to its original size and shape. "Resorting to something like that to hit us? Tsk tsk." Chara wagged their knife back and forth at Garnet.

Who curled the corner of her lip into a snarl. Chara took a step forward and grimaced as she shifted weight to their hit leg, feeling something definitely not in its proper place. Alas, she was full of DETERMINATION to see this through and actually cut one of them down to size. So that's what she was going to do, one way or another.

Standing up straight Chara grinded the heel of their bad leg into the ground, hissing through their teeth as pain lanced through their body. And she gripped the the knife once more, taking a closer look at the other two and how they summoned their weapons, like every other time they did. Always from their gems, not from some pocket or anything, the only one that never summoned it from their gem was Steven who always summoned it on his wrist. With whatever damage Garnet did to their leg it made them a little less mobile and she was already fast, so they needed to remove some of her advantages. Her gems, that Chara guessed let her summon her gauntlets, which meant all they had to do was cut through the wrist on one of their arms.

Since they shared the same mind and she wasn't bothering to hide her thoughts Frisk knew her plan and agreed with her. Rushing forward once more, knife gleaming in the sun, free of any blood or dust despite them cutting the gem, as Garnet ran at them with her own gauntlets raised. Once more they ran at each other from across the small clearing at the base of the mountain, both determined to end it.

Garnet came in from above with one fist and the other cocked way back, intending to make up for any possible dodge they would pull. Disregarding that fist entirely they ran into the strike, and ducked at the last possible moment, feeling the rock-hard material graze their hair, while they skidded on their heels and looked up waiting until they were right under her wrist. The moment they were they smiled and pushed up off the ground and swung their knife with all the might they had, right through the wrist. The first instant they met with some resistance, then cut straight through, twirling away with the force they had put into the strike as Garnet gained a look of horror.

That disappeared as her body poofed like dust and two gems fell to the ground, making a wonderful plop noise as did they when their twirl directed them back into the earth. Chara smiled through the pain echoing in their knee at the two gems on the ground, red and blue glittering under the sun. "Garnet!" Screamed a voice in pure panic from the direction of the forest.

Oh right there were more of them… snarling Chara made them stand back up and look at the other Gems no longer on the sidelines, save for Steven, who were now rushing them. Brandishing their knife Chara responded in kind with her own charge, to the closer of the two, Amethyst. The purple freak slammed her whip down and Frisk rolled to the side, then pushed back off the ground as Pearl shot a blast of energy from the tip of her spear at where they would have stood up at. Flipping up they ducked under another whip strike, and hugged the ground as an almost instantaneous second one came after the first, which Chara took as a means to sprint forward out of a runner's position they had gotten into. Only to stop dead in their tracks as more beams of energy grazed the front of their shirt and singed some of their skin.

Their arms flailed out in front of them to stop their movement into the energy blasts, making them an easy target for Amethyst to wrap her whip around in one stroke, its crystals jutting out at irregular intervals slicing into their skin. "Come here you little freak!" The next moment they were sent flying through the air once more, but instead this time towards the treeline and crashing into a tree. Chara had a moment to register the fact they were upside down and something cracked, whether it was the tree or their body she couldn't tell, before they were sent in another direction, everything being a blur.

Until another painful smash into the ground and the rock-covered whip loosened itself from their arms. Such wonderful pain was spreading throughout their body because of four fucking hits, and that was pathetic. They'd faced worse before and lasted longer against things more dangerous than these Gems, Chara grabbed at the dirt under them and squeezed it until it ran out through their fingers. Frisk had gone up against a practical god and she'd handled Sans all by her lonesome, somebody who altered the rules of the battlefield with a wave of his hand, so to lose to these three was unacceptable.

Hissing through their teeth with contempt Chara glared up at the two gems who were standing a good distance away but looking back at them in kind. Pearl spoke after raising her spear again, once she realized that Chara was staring at them. "I'm starting to think Garnet was right about that thing not being human."

Chara growled and slowly stood up off the ground, feeling their limbs protesting as if they had reached their limit. She only put more force behind their arms and legs to stand and slowly but surely they stood back up, blood dripping down onto the ground into a small puddle. "I'm not giving up, I'm tired of dying to you freaks."

Amethyst shook her head in annoyance at them and brought her whips to opposite sides, as if to slice them in two. Chara gripped their knife tighter and shifted their weight to the better leg so they would stop wobbling. "Just shut up before I make you shut up."

"Wait! You'll kill them!" Steven yelled from the sidelines, tears going down his face. Chara was reminded of Frisk a little bit at that point.

"Kind of the point Steven, this thing is a danger to everybody that lives around here." Replied purple, not taking her eyes off of them.

"Shouldn't we uhh… study it first or something then! It's just a kid, and from what we heard there's supposed to be a lot bigger ones than them!" Pearl and Amethyst glanced at each other, seeming to think it through. Chara didn't care other than the fact they would go a little easier on them to try and capture them which would mean they got some advantage again. Taking the moment to catch their breath Chara rocked back on their heels and watched as a silent conversation between the two started.

"I suppose that's a good idea isn't it?" Pearl finally said after ten full seconds of silence, which made Steven breath a sigh of relief. Chara grinned and started walking forward, dancing the knife back and forth in their fingers. "Amethyst if you could take its knife?"

Amethyst nodded and flashed one whip forward, then the other knowing that they'd dodge with relative ease. Frisk danced them through both as Chara charged forward to finish the two of them off, having to duck once more to the side as Pearl shot more blasts, relishing the feeling of smacking their own broken bones against the earth. Coming up she noticed that Pearl was charging them for once and not the other one and she smiled.

Bringing the knife up she stabbed for the leg and Pearl smacked it away, twirling through with her strike and coming back down again, which Frisk had them duck under. Slicing at the torso Pearl dodged and retaliated with a blunt strike and Frisk hopped to the side once more, then felt their legs give out under them as Amethyst pulled with her whip that had been waiting as a trap. Spun around once more like before they ended up going in a full circle and were thrown back towards Pearl, slamming into the ground twice in a roll before coming to a stop at Pearl's feet.

Two feet slammed into their arms to hold them in place as Pearl reached down and yanked their knife out of their hands. Then proceeded to check their pockets, confiscating their phone and otherwise taking whatever they had. She stood up and dropped their things to the side, and raised her spear up right above their head, the tip of it pointed straight at them. Then it went to the side and stabbed into their elbow joint, eliciting a yelp from Chara out loud and a scream inside their head by Frisk. Pearl repeated the process with their other arm and Chara bit down on their tongue to keep silent, drawing blood as she moved to their legs.

"I'm going to kill you." Chara growled at Pearl who just frowned down at them.

"You are really a curious creature aren't you?" Was all Pearl said, before reaching to either side of them and having a bubble pop into existence around them. Both of them raised their eyes at this weird movement and watched her hand go over top of them and tap. A weird sense of vertigo washed over them and they closed their eyes, Chara taking a moment to compare it to San's annoying shortcuts, then the feeling disappeared.

Opening their eyes once more they found themselves in a strange room, full of bubbles and gems, weird heart-red veins going up and down the walls and up through the ceiling. Chara let their eyes wander and groaned, they got beat by some pathetic Gem freaks. How? Oh well they could just reset and do it again, or let Frisk take the reins and try talking them out of it once more.

But yet… she wanted to see how this would turn out. Frisk even voiced their agreement, the more they knew, the quicker they could get past it all. So they would wait, stabbed elbows, knees, shattered ribs and everything else broken, they'd wait.

Frisk wanted to take a nap in the back of their mind and Chara let them, knowing she'd always been better at handling the pain the two of them had suffered together. It was something that she was used to by now. Besides at the rate they were bleeding out they wouldn't have to wait long, without their phone they had nothing to eat. So she just hummed to two of them as the time passed, body slowly growing cold and losing feeling once again.


	2. Trust

"So let me get this straight, a child beat the fusion Garnet? In one on one combat no less?" Peridot asked, leaning over the kitchen counter and looking at the two gems that laid on the table in front of Steven. "At least I know what gems makeup Garnet I guess." She shifted her legs on the stool as she leaned in more, head laying on her arms. She silently watched Steven as he lay in a similar position to her, brows creased in concentration. "What are you thinking about?"

Steven glanced up at her and then looked back down at Ruby and Sapphire's gems lying on the table on top of red and blue cloths. "Things." He didn't want to tell her that he was thinking of the girl… boy… whichever they were, was talking about before. They had been talking all about dying over and over to them, with such certainty and venom in their voice. And the way Garnet had seemed different, much colder and distant than her usual self on the trip to the mountain.

Peridot shrugged her little green shoulders and hopped off the stool. "If you don't want to talk that's fine, I'll go see how the other two are doing." Walking around the corner she paused by his side and added as an afterthought, "You know they're going to come back right? The two gems I mean."

"Yeah." She nodded to herself and walked away, leaving him to his thoughts. He drummed his fingers on the counter, trying to figure it out. Garnet had been cold and distant, giving short curt answers upon their travel to the mountain, the entire time seeming distracted. When they all first heard on the news, thanks to Connie, that there was a race of monsters by Mt. Ebott, they'd rushed over. When their portal took them as far as it could they walked the rest of the distance and that had been when Garnet started being quiet.

It couldn't be the fact that they had no idea where these monsters had come from, according to the gems they'd never heard of anybody under that mountain, or ever heard of it for that matter. Pearl had been talking about how it was possible that humans could have been mistaken, or a bunch of gems could have hidden under it. Amethyst just talked about grabbing some food from the city that the monsters had apparently been seen in, Peridot just told them to leave her there so she could make sure the drill was finished.

Garnet was always hard to figure out, but still… he couldn't even ask Ruby or Sapphire why they'd been acting like that. In fact the only thing he could think of asking was that monster in the Burning Room, its joints stabbed through by Pearl and bleeding al- he clamped his hands down on his head and forced himself to stop thinking about it before he threw up again. It was one thing to fight Gems, they would just poof when they were beaten, but to see the way somebody looked after it all.

Then get right back up from Garnet of all people punching them like it was nothing and smiling, that disturbing little smile that showed itself through the blood caked on their face. It sent a shiver down his spine just thinking back to that, it wasn't something he'd been expecting when he first saw them. A striped shirt, a cut on their cheek and shorts made them seem normal, average even. The way they had charged right at them with a smile on their face and crimson red eyes peering out from under their bangs. That smile had stayed on for most of the fight, even when they got beat to the ground.

But he needed to talk to them, no matter how creepy they were or sickening of a state Pearl put them in. Sliding off the stool he began walking to his room, or rather his Mom's old room, the quickest way he could think of getting to the Burning Room. It was a sudden transition from his area of the house to the Gem's, wooden planks giving way to ancient rocks under foot, interrupted by a crystalline Warp Pad in the middle of the room before resuming its rock self up until the point of the door. He looked up at the pink door in front of him, for just a moment before it bloomed open like a rose for him, knowing he wanted to get in. Stepping through the door shut behind him, leaving him in the familiar pink cloudscape of his Mom's room.

"I need to get to the Burning Room." He said, head still lowered, trying to think of what he was going to say to that thing in the basement. It was dangerous, reckless, determined and talked really weird just from his one time meeting them. The clouds moved out of the way to reveal a fireman style pillar leading down into the basement and he hopped onto it, easily sliding down the crystal smooth vein, the walls around him turning into a slight blur as he went down. Looking in said direction he let go of the pillar as it curved away, like he did before when he talked to Peridot, and hit the ground in a roll coming up to a stand at his destination.

In the Burning Room, hundreds of different colored gems bubbled inside different colored bubbles, adorning the vein-like walls like decorations. All except for one bubble, two if you counted the one holding the thing's items it had on it. The one he was looking at though, its occupant was staring right at and through him, crimson eyes now matching the red stains all over their clothing. "Here I was thinking I was going to bleed out, before anybody was going to come down to say hi. I was wondering how bleeding out was going to go, haven't died that way before." They added as an afterthought, their lips pursed together in thought.

He averted his gaze, feeling sick again at the way their limbs were drenched in blood, the amount of pain they must be in. Looking at his feet he said, "I've been meaning to ask about that, why do you keep talking about dying like that?"

"I'm good friends with death." They paused, he wondered if their expression changed but didn't look up. "You've always been a curious kid, always asking questions and being amazed by the simplest of things. Tell you what I'll make a deal with you, an answer for an answer."

He glanced up to see them moving their arms, a grimace on their face as they struggled to get their limbs moving the way they wanted, lower arms hanging limp. He quickly looked away again, feeling bile rising in his throat once more. "What do you mean, we both ask questions?"

"I suppose Pearl was the smarter one of the bunch," They said in a hushed tone, as if to themself. "Yes we both ask questions and we both answer, I am tired of dying and I just want to get past all this shit. Here I'll be polite and let you ask the first question."

He gulped, starting to question his own idea of coming down. "Why do you keep talking about dying so much?"

"Because I've died at least two hundred times, I know we've died a lot of times but I gave up counting because who cares how many times you die? It matters how many times you win. Now my question, who are you gems? I've never heard of any of you before this whole event."

Picking at his pants he answered, "Well they came to this planet a long time ago, and they decided to call this place their home and help to protect it from bad people and things. What do you mean you've died hundreds of times?"

He heard them snicker from above. "Then they suck at their job, so much chaos from what I remember. But as to your question, every time we die we reset time to some point before hand. We've seen so many possibilities but yet you and your friends always like to try and kill us." They sang with a chipper note. "I'll admit it's been fun fighting again, being in charge but I don't like people messing with us."

Why did they switch to we and us, glancing up once more he saw them looking down at him, slightest hint of a smile evident on their face, perched atop a pair of arms that shouldn't have been able to be moved. He needed to stop looking. "Enough about us, why is Garnet so focused on pounding us into the ground?"

"I don't know why, she's been acting weird ever since we went to the mountain, but she's always been one to act quick. Why did you talk like there's more of you?"

"Yin and Yang. Frisk is good, happy and quite a lot like you actually, just more or less mute. I'm the opposite I'm in charge of handling pain and fighting. Wanna see, this is excruciating and would make Frisk faint probably. Come on and look up at us, I'll wave to you."

"No thanks." He kept his eyes rooted to the ground, not wanting to see them moving again, knowing he'd probably lose it if he did. "Does it hurt?"

"What? I-I just said it did, handling pain and not having any are two different things, but you skipped my question so I get tw-"

"Can I help? With the pain I mean." He rubbed at the back of his neck, blatantly ignoring all the weird and creepy answers they'd been giving. "I know that you probably don't like me, any version of me if this is what keeps happening to you, but it's not right for anybody to suffer."

A moment of silence passed between them before it was broken by them. "Forget being like Frisk, you make me think more of Papyrus… if you really want to help then get my phone."

Looking up again he directed his gaze to the bubble containing their phone and knife. "How will that help?"

"Compare it to this bubble thing with transporting items, I can get something to heal myself. Frisk would appreciate it, they can still feel some of the pain, just not all of it." Nodding he looked at the veins protruding from the wall to see if he could climb up one of them to get to the bubble in question, and saw nothing to grab onto. Instead he had to summon his shield to get it down, the pink shield appearing at his wrist before being thrown up at the bubble, its two items falling down. He grabbed the phone before it could hit the ground, but let the knife clatter against the ground, not wanting to risk grabbing it.

"Why?"

He looked up to the side of them, looking for some way to get them down without popping the bubble. "Why what?"

"Why are you being so nice? I could never figure out Papyrus, Frisk… well they're the yin to my yang so I dunno. I mean I even killed your friend for the love of Pete."

Spying a pillar he could climb up he laid down the phone and hugged it to climb up on. "You didn't kill her, you just poofed her. You hurt her sure," He paused to adjust his position as the vein twisted away. "But I think you got the poorer half of the deal."

He reached over and gently smacked the bubble down out of the air. "Not dead? Bah even then I hurt her, and I'm a bit of a freak."

Sliding back down he looked at them, eyes peering out from under their bangs at him, all hostility gone and replaced by confusion. From above they looked different, less intimidating in their broken state, red splayed all over their purple and pink shirt and slitted wounds, the thing that had earlier added to their intimidation with the way they still moved, now showcased how hurt they were. Hitting the ground he thought for a second before he shrugged. "Well Peridot attacked us at first too, she even came close to truly killing all of us but that was because she was just scared. Now she's upstairs talking to the rest of the Gems about you. I gave her the chance to calm down and explain and it all turned out right."

They scoffed from their position in the bubble as he walked over and poked it, dropping them a few inches onto the ground which they had been floating in earlier. They hadn't been expecting it so their face meet the floor with a wet smack, making him cringe. "Before you ask, yes we're fine but a little warning would have been appreciated."

"Sorry." He reached over for their phone and sat down, indian style, next to them and rested his fingers on top of it. "Do you want me to use it?"

Their head pulled itself up off the ground, to look at him with a fresh bloody nose, still crooked and out of place from before. "Just put it under my face."

He slid it under them and looked away as they started using their broken nose to punch the buttons, a sickening crunch sounding as they worked. "Where's the… right ate it earlier… eh I guess a cinnamon is good enough."

A final crunch and a solitary pop sounded by him, in which direction a bunny shaped treat fell out of nothing. Out of their reach, so he grabbed it off the ground and looked at it, wondering why it looked so familiar. "If you wanted something to eat I could've-"

"Monster food is different from human food, now can I have it before we bleed out?" He mumbled an apology and held the cinnamon treat out for them to bite. They opened their mouth and somehow managed to drag it out of his hand. Their cheeks bugged out with the food, like a chipmunk as they chewed.

He sat and waited for them to finish, not exactly sure how giving them food was supposed to help them with the pain. A minute passed by and he picked at the ground. "How is food supposed to help you?"

They swallowed their cinnamon bunny and looked at him. "You know how food gives you energy? Well Monster food does the same but instantly." They finally started using their arms, the shaking gone from their movements. Sitting into an upright position with legs stretched out they did the same for their arms stretching them up above their head with a pleasant sigh, as Steven sat there dumbfounded, the injuries that Pearl had inflicted upon them now seeming to have no effect.

In fact now that he actually looked at them, the holes that had been stabbed through were still there, just a slight bit less shallow, still leaking out blood. Their nose was crooked to the right, two rivers crusted onto their face and over their lips. Their leg was the same case, something pointing up and out of it at a definitely unnatural and painful angle, not to mention the semi-closed wound that only wasn't gaping for the fact the way their leg was situated. He avoided looking at the more open wounds on them, knowing he would truly lose his lunch looking at the crimson inside of them. To tie their injured look together, ignoring the crusted blood on their clothing was the old scar across their temple. "A-Are you feeling better?"

"Oh heck yes." They finished their stretch and reached down for the phone, dialing a few more numbers on it. "You know, you're pretty calm, all things considering." Another thing popped into existence beside them and they grabbed it out of the air, not bothering to look.

"What do you mean?" He asked watching as they unwrapped something that looked like a popsicle.

They immediately took a bite out of it, picking at some of the crusted blood on their pants while looking up at him from under their hair. "Well look at us, literally look at us, broken bones, open wounds and we're just sitting here eating through it. Not to mention how dangerous we are, sitting right next to you without any of your friends around to stop us." They took another bite and watched his nervous smile and laugh.

"I'm just really good at hiding my fear, especially when showing it means that somebody's going to get hurt." Still smiling he watched them eat their food.

"Mmmm." Was their only response to that as they finished the popsicle and started using the phone again. "You going to ask a question or are we done talking? The deal is still in effect you know."

"Right… so what are the monsters like? All I kind of know is that a whole bunch of people freaked out when they saw them."

"They're a peculiar bunch, a lot of them too. I'll treat one person as one question, so to start off... Papyrus is a skeleton, nice and naive despite wanting to be part of the royal guard, pretty sure he's more than capable but he doesn't want to hurt anyone. Every time he came close to killing us, he'd wrap us in a blanket and heal us back up." They stopped to take a bite of the sandwich they summoned, one that looked a lot like a sword. Which they were quickly devouring.

"He sounds nice."

They nodded. "He is. Too much for his own good even." Trailing off they seemed to be thinking of something before shaking their head. "Who's this Peridot you talked about? Somebody else I'm going to have to worry about?"

"Not unless you're worried about getting slapped." He joked as they finished the last of the sandwich and licked the crumbs off their fingers.. "Although she does have… no we broke it. She's just a cute little technician, more than likely just question you once or twice and leave you alone afterwards."

"Still want to know the Monsters?" He nodded. "Alright, next up is… Undyne, captain of the royal guard. She's part fish, but can get by fine without water for the most part. She's willing to do anything to help kids and Monsters, no matter the cost. Strong enough to suplex a boulder while she's trying to kill us, Frisk think she's alright after we talked to her, I disagree 'cause well... " They shrugged. "She killed us. Pretty violent in how she acts even when we're all friends, made us sit down by almost skewering us with a spear. Ended up ruining her table, followed by us burning her house down."

He smiled as he noticed they seemed to crack a slight smile of their own, "Sounds like she's a carp."

Their smile widened, enough to show their teeth before they quickly corrected it into a frown and glared at him, their eyes betraying the smile they had tried to hide. "We already have one person making puns we don't need another one."

He chuckled and shifted his legs on the floor, glad to have made them seem a bit more child-like, it helped the mood. "Sorry, couldn't resist. So uh, you're friends now?"

"Frisk is." They paused and looked up, leaning back on their arms to get a better view. "What is this place, has hundreds of Gems I'm guessing?"

"This is called the Burning Room, it's where we put sick Gems until we can figure out how to fix them." He stood up and placed his hands on his hips, looking around at them all. "We really haven't been able to figure the fixing part but the Crystal Gems have been pretty good at getting sick Gems into here."

"Looks like there's hundreds in here." They idly commented, standing up too.

"Yup, they've been doing this for thousands of years." He smiled looking over at them as they stared upwards. Then he noticed the fact that they were standing up, despite the fact that not ten minutes earlier they were almost dead, the holes in their knees and elbows gone. "You're completely healed!?"

"Eh?" They questionly sounded, before looking down at themselves then back at him with a shrug. "I did tell you that Monster food is pretty much upgraded regular food. Heals us back to a hundred percent in no time." Cementing it with a flex of their arm they smirked.

Taking a step forward he inspected them over, the only evidence of most of their injuries being blood and a still crooked nose. "That's awesome."

"It is isn't it. Back to the Monsters there's also Alyphs, Undyne's girlfriend who is the Royal Scientist and a lizard dinosaur thing. She's made robots, jetpacks, lasers, is a huge nerd for anim-... why are you making that face and what's wrong with your eyes?" They asked, noticing he clamped his hands onto his cheeks, his pupils seemed to have turned into stars and he was practically vibrating in place.

"She sounds soooo awesome! Tell me more!" He squealed, hopping back and forth on each foot.

"Quit doing… all of that and I'll keep going." He stopped and she rolled her eyes. "She also made us this phone with the dimensional pocket in it. Shy, nervous and I'm pretty sure she has some anxiety disorder she's alright. Only time we died because of anything relating to her is because of that robot Mettaton. How old are you?"

Back on the ground, laying on his back he looked up at them. "Fourteen, no idea how old the Crystal Gems are. Now what's this robot Mettaton like? Does it have death beams?"

"In a way he does. In reality he's just a TV star who wants to get everybody to watch his show. He looks good for a robot I guess, is pretty self-centered, but keeping to the pattern Frisk still likes him. Also owns a big portion of the Underground from what we've seen." They walked over to the veiny wall and leaned against it, seeming deep in thought. "As douchey as he is, I guess he's alright? I don't know what to make of him, every time he does something nice he immediately ruins it by doing something else. How come you're only fourteen and the others aren't?"

He rolled up his shirt slightly and pointed at his gem. "Well my Mom used to be their leader until she gave her physical form up for me to come into the world, making me a half-Gem. That was about fourteen years ago and I've kind of been helping the Gems out when I can."

Their brows furrowed in concentration and they opened their mouth several times, as if to question what he just said but kept shutting. Until they moved onto their family. "Moving on from that, there's Sans, Papyrus' skeleton brother. He's lazy, likes making puns and jokes whenever he can and you can always rely on him to be napping somewhere. It's surprising to say this but out of them all I think he's the most normal, personality wise, ability wise he's… very unique."

"So he's got a punny bone?" He smiled as their mouth twitched again and they looked away, hand covering their mouth for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Please don't. Back to you, how are you half-Gem? Aren't they just rocks or something like that?" They asked with their hands held out asking the same question.

He rolled over onto his stomach and propped his head up on his hands. "Well that's a bit complicated and I don't know the actual answer. But my dad probably does, we could ask him later."

"Meh." They shrugged. "Not the most important question to go after right now. Next person to talk about would be the King and Queen. They're both goats, divorced, equally nice and both will offer you snacks. Alike in many ways they're effectively immortal age-wise and can beat almost anybody in combat with their power over fire. That's more or less everybody worth mentioning that we hang around with on normal occasions. Unless one were to count Miss Muffet the spider, she just looks after her own kind mostly though."

"I take it there's plenty more though?" They nodded, shifting their weight onto their other foot and propping the previous one up against the wall. "They all sound pretty awesome."

"Frisk loves them." They left it at that as they pushed off the wall and walked past him, making him flip around on his stomach to keep them in sight and watched as they picked up their knife, flipping it twice before smoothly sliding it into their pocket, not noticing the fact his face had gotten slightly paler. "I'm just… tolerant of them. While I'm thinking of it what did you mean earlier by poofing your friend?"

Standing up he dusted off his shirt and jeans. "Well the Gems don't die really, when they get hurt they just kinda poof," He made a slight explosion with his hands to emphasize his words. "And out drops their gem. Why do you want to know?" He asked with a slight chuckle as they turned their attention back to the room and Gems decorating it.

"Because when we die again I want to make sure this detour was worth the wasted time, every time we tried talking to you freaks we died. Or somebody else." They shrugged with a slight chuckle of their own. "I wish I could say I've gotten used to dying but I haven't and I'd rather not die again. So every time we do die, we use it as a lesson of what not to do." They gave a thumbs up to him as they spied the exit. "For example we now know we can't kill them, but I'm guessing we can throw them into one of these bubbles instead or something so there's that."

They began walking off without another word with a slight hum, heading for the exit. "Wait, hang on!" He yelled, running after them to catch up. "You don't need to die anymore you know!"

They stopped and looked back at him with a half-amused grin. "Come again?"

"I said you didn't have to die anymore, even if you use it to your advantage it's not right for anybody to die." He said as he came up next to them, extending his hand. "So just let me help you out, ask for any help you need."

They looked down and smiled at the hand before looking back at him. "We appreciate the offer, but it's going to happen anyways. Kind of accepted that fact a long time ago, by blade, by poison, by our own fault or etcetera."

"And do any of your friends know about you dying?" They remained silent and avoided his eyes. "I'm guessing by that, it's a no which means it's only been happening to you because you're alone. So let somebody help."

They smiled again, a somber smile one at that. "We have each other in our head, besides you can't help that much if you don't know what's going to kill us. Again we appreciate it, but we should get going."

He grabbed them by the shoulders before they could turn and looked them in the eyes, having to look down at them since they only came up to his chin. "Look I know I can't say anything to re-assure you, after all I've never heard of anybody in a situation like yours. But believe me when I say that I will protect you guys and you won't have to worry about dying anymore."

Their eyes went wide, and a blush formed across their face. He smiled, assuming that meant that he'd penetrated their defences at least a bit. Then he raised his eyebrows as they seemed to take on a golden sheen and watched as the blood that had crusted onto their clothes just disappeared. Along with the fact that their nose just slid back into its original spot, which made him cringe slightly. "Why're you making that face?

"The blood, it disappeared." He said in surprise.

"What?!" They push him away and looked down at themselves, patting their body. "What- How!?" Suddenly, a expression of dread went across their face. "Did I SAVE!?" They put their hands on their head, and started pacing, muttering to them selves in a frantic manner. "No no no. Why did I save!? I can't reset, I can't undo this without going all the way back. And I CAN"T do that! Not again!"

Suddenly, they turned away, and started running towards the opposite of the room. "Hey, wait! What's going on!" Steven yelled at them, but they ignored them. Their hands flashed to their phone, thumbs flying across the screen before it expanded outwards in a explosion, the phone now somehow the size of backpack and straps on it to boot. In a hurry they swung it onto their back, two canisters making up the pack, the bottoms of which were glowing like the ends of rockets… He had an inkling to what it was but before he could do anything to stop them they rocketed off through one of the tunnels.


	3. Everything Is Not Fine

' _WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?'_ Chara frantically thought to themselves as they jet through the caverns. Frisk wasn't thinking much at all, caught up in panic. They can't undo that fight with Garnet, they can't get a peaceful ending anymore. They gotta save their family. They have to stop the Gems from killing everyone. But **how!?**

While they frantically thought up how they could save everyone, they passed through many rooms, holding many otherwise interesting structures, but they ignored them all, too busy looking for a answer. Everything was a blur as they raced through both the Gem's home and through the scenarios in their own mind. They had told that fucking brat way too much and the only way they could take that back now was to take everything back and they couldn't! Just no no no no, not after all that work! It was all the Gems' fault all their fault! Damnable Garnet always killing them always always always!

Rounding another bend their gaze flicked back and forth over their surroundings, but not truly seeing it as they kept panicking. They were stuck now to this route unless they went back, but they couldn't, not again, so the only solution was to follow through with it, beat them into submission, force them to see reason like they had to with Dad. Yeah that had to be the solution, there always was a solution! So they had to find the Gems now and beat them.

Twisting around a pillar with a twirl they looked around frantically, searching for the Gems, they had to be in here somewhere they just had to! With all their senses focused on finding any type of indication of where the Gems would be, their ears picked up the distinct sound of a waterfall. As their best idea of where to go they speeded towards it with a manic grin, focused on finishing it, finishing it once and for all.

In the matter of a dozen or so seconds, but one constant panic to them they flew through more hallways and passages, before spying the source of the sound, a set of waterfalls cascading down from themselves, water rushing up out of nothing for no reason. Frisk didn't puzzle about it, Chara didn't roll their eyes at it, for they were focused on the figure meditating on the middle-most waterfall. Pearl. Easy pickings, easy to take care of right now.

Letting go of one of the two joysticks, one for either hand to steer the jetpack, they spiralled towards her while their hand dipped into their pocket to fish out the knife. Smiling ear to ear they brought out their knife and watched, even as the world blurred in a twirl of colors, as their target noticed them and stood up. The couldn't make out her face but her tone told them she was surprised and mad. "How are you out!"

Brandishing their knife in front of them they locked their eyes on her neck, intending to separate her gem from her body like they did with Garnet. She brought her hands up to her gem and summoned her spear right before they swung down, using their momentum to slam into the barely raised spear. With a grunt they knocked her down onto the water platform, rolling as best they could with their jetpack they came up in a crouch and rushed forward once more, swinging as hard as they could.

Pearl dodged to the side and brought the blunt end of her spear down, which they smacked out of the side, panic and rage fueling their strength beyond its already abnormally high limit. Her face was filled with even more surprise at that, before setting back into a grim frown to try and kill them. Hopping to the side of another swing the turned on their jetpack once more, for a brutal upper swing, knocking the spear up and out of her hand. Flipping the knife down to come down from it, Pearl rolled away from them, summoning another spear.

They snarled and rocketed up out of her reach, wanting more momentum to shove their knife in hilt-deep in her neck. "FRISK!" Screamed a familiar voice from below, making them twirl around to see Steven looking up at them. Watching him from above they snarled at the person responsible for their save, and looked back at Pearl to see her aiming her spear at them to shoot them again. Edging out of the way of the blast they locked eyes with her, their smile twitching into a slight frown.

Pointing themselves at her they rocketed back down, flipping around the blasts with ease, the shots being nothing compared to malestrom that Mettaton and Undyne used to dump on them. And with that practice they dodged around all the blasts and brought their knife out again, Pearl switching into a defense again, intending to knock them to the side. But instead they slammed into her again, this time knocking the two of them off the platform.

They tried to pull up off her but she grabbed onto the back of their jetpack to bring them down with her and they responded with an attempt at a stab for her neck. She grabbed and they headbutted her in the chest, and again when they heard an umph sound from her. They kept it going, ignoring the pain and flashes behind their eyes with each successive slam. Lifting up their feet they finally managed to kick her off of them as they noticed the ground finally nearing them and with a firm yank up on the joystick they pulled up and away from the towers of junk below.

Shaking their head free of stars, they watched as she crashed into a pile of junk, metal, stone and plastic sounding as it teared against itself. "That is what I mean by not human, humans don't recover from near death in only two hours." Sounded another familiar voice, the whip-user Amethyst. Looking down they saw her and a weird green-triangle headed Gem, sitting in one of the few clean spots in the room, probably the Peridot that Steven was talking about.

Peridot let out a 'eep' and ducked behind a pile of trash and Amethyst pulled out her whip from the gem on her chest, smiling at them. "I'm going to be more than happy to put you back in a bubble you freak."

They snarled in response, eyes darting to the pile that Pearl was crawling out of, finally noticing there were plenty of weapons in this room, was this what passed as their armory? Even if it wasn't, there were still plenty of options for them to use in the room, where they had an advantage. It was cramped, cluttered, their domain, filled with their things and more, none of which would make it easy for them and they needed ti to be easy, to finish it quick and nice. So no go here, not at all, they needed somewhere more open, a playing field that they could use.

Tearing their eyes off the gems below they looked around for another passage to rocket through and soon found one, giving them all a glare before speeding off. They were vaguely aware of the Gems screaming after them, but they ignored it, instead focusing on flying in the narrow passageway they had picked. It twisted and curved all around them until emptying out into another room.

Deciding against that room they flew on, the rooms they passed through becoming little more than blurs again as they looked around frantically for something to give them a final edge. That's when they found it, a room with a giant crystal heart, with dozens of arteries leading out of the room. It pulsated with energy, giving them a very familiar feeling. DETERMINATION was the closest they could equate it to, but not quite at the same time. But they could tell one thing, it was obviously important, which meant they had leverage.

Hovering over onto it, they touched down and felt it pulsate under their feet. Under other circumstances they'd be puzzling about its nature but at this moment they were feeling its surface to see how easy it was to puncture it and judging by the way it felt they could do it with just enough force.

"Frisk!" Screamed Steven as he came running into the room, sweat pouring down his face. "What's wrong! Come on talk to me!"

They grinned at him, trying to keep themselves in check. "We can't try from the mountain anymore, we're stuck to trying it all from inside here now. Already tried to kill Garnet and can't get a happy ending anymore thanks to that and you," They laughed and wiggled their knife at him. "And you know too much, nobody's supposed to know about our resets or most of all me. Only supposed to know Frisk is here nobody else."

They twirled their knife in the side of their head, accidentally letting loose a small trail of blood down the side of their face. "But don't worry, we'll fix it, we always do. I just need to make your friends listen."

"And I'll help you okay! You just need to calm down and tell me what you're talking about, because I have no idea what's going on." He yelled up at them, hands held out in a plea.

"Good." They replied, eyes looking around for the Gems to show up. So many open doors and passages they could come through. So many glowing parts that they couldn't tell Pearl was lining up another shot with her spear, but they did notice Amethyst clearly and plainly walking out of one of the passages and they twirled towards her. "Stop right there Amethyst, another step and I'll break the heart."

She held up her hands and looked towards Steven. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with it being out of its bubble would you buddy?"

He flinched slightly. "It was all going fine until they started glowing and they freaked out," He looked up at them again with a forced smile. "Look she's not coming after you okay, so why don't you just calm down and tell me what's wrong."

Their eye twitched at his tone, so nice and forced and annoying and all his fault of why they were stuck with a SAVE in here. twisting the knife in their hands they kneeled down to get closer to the heart. "Remember how I kept telling you how we kept dying and dying and dying? Well think of it like a game, full of ups and downs and resets. Everytime we died we went back to a SAVE point, a set point in time to retry from. And you." They lifted the knife and pointed it at him. "YOU made us SAVE in the temple. After we got in a fight with Garnet, which shouldn't have even happened but I just wanted to have some payback after dying so much to her."

They continued on, ignoring the confused look on Amethyst's face, wanting to go on their rant before talking to the Gems themselves. "We can't get a happy ending anymore, not without going back to the beginning and we can't do it again. Not again, never again, so your friends are going to shut up and sit down and not try to kill us again so we can all just move on without anymore pain."

"And I don't want anybody else to get hurt so just come down off of there and we'll talk okay?" He smiled at them, that same naive annoying smile of his, the same smile he gave them with that little promise earlier.

"I'm not going anywhere." They whipped their arm out to the side to emphasize their statement. "I'm tired of not being in control here, done with it!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Well look I can't let you just hang out on the Heart, you're liable to kill all of us. So how about you get down from there and we uh, talk this out." She said, the lie evident under her voice. Wait a minute where was the other one, they were in the same room just a minute ago so why wouldn't they both be here! Swinging themselves around on their tiptoe their eyes swept the room once more, before finally peering into one of the passages and seeing that damn familiar glow of Pearl's staff again.

Pointing. Right. At. Them. They snarled at her, then heard a grunt from their right, towards where Amethyst was. Who had summoned her whip and was getting ready to swing it at them again, ready to cut into their flesh again. Maneuvering out of the way and behind one of the 'veins' they memorized where Pearl was so next time they could move her somewhere into their line of sight instead of being caught off guard.

With her passage memorized, if it got that far without them killing her, they swung down into the heart, their knife easily ripping into its crystalline surface. A spiderweb crack formed in it that only grew in size as they yanked down, knowing the whip was about to fly down onto them, wanting to cause as much damage as they could in the moment they had. And they did as it cracked more and more, spiralling up and down the Crystal Heart as the Gems looked on in horror, them with glee knowing they won that time.

As they watched, cracks seemed to form in space itself till, with a silent crash, reality shattered.

(AN: Cliffhangers amiright? In all seriousness hope you guys like the story me and my associate have been whipping up so far, and don't be afraid to leave a review. Just because I don't respond to them don't mean I don't like'em or ignore'em I just let the story speak for itself. Also this is going to be one of the shorter chapters in the story.)


	4. Value of Self-Worth

Steven walked down a long purple hall, chasing after Garnet. She was going to destroy the exit, and he had to stop her. He finally caught up to her as she stood in front of the exit. When she heard him arrive, she started. "Hmph. You are just like the others."

' _Others?'_ Steven thought in confusion. ' _What others? What's going on? Where's dad?'_ He wanted to know the answers to all these questions, yet he couldn't ask. This wasn't his life anymore, it was Connies. And she needed to go forwards. She deserved a happy life, one she can't get living in the Ruins.

"There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." She states solemnly.

"What do you mean?" He croaked out of Connie's mouth, it being unused to speaking.

In response, Garnet sent a wave of flames flying towards them, which they barely managed to avoid. "Fight me. You must be strong to survive." With that final declaration, the flames started coming in swarms, all threatening to roast him alive and failing that, choke him by eating all of the oxygen.

"Mom! Please! I have to go!" Steven yelled pleadingly, but Garnet's only response is to shake her head and send out another wave of flames. He scrambled around them as best as he could, getting more than few burns, ruining his sweater. He lashed forward, Toy Knife in hand, wanting her to stop, wanting her to listen. _'All I have to do is show her I'm strong. All I have to do is beat her till she lets me leave.'_ He thought desperately to himself, Connie latching onto that hope with all she had. Together, they weaved and dodged around the flames, landing attack after attack, the Toy Knife slicing through her robes frighteningly well.

"Please, mom! I don't want to hurt you!" He tried again, tears flowing from his eyes, as Connie moved her legs to try to avoid getting even worse burns. But there was no response, Garnet stayed as resolute as ever in blocking their path. So, together they moved forward, and struck one more time. Except, this time it was different. Instead of just nicking her, the Toy Knife went deep, too deep. They stopped in stunned silence, gazing at the rend they tore in Garnet. She collapsed to one knee, clutching the wound with a grunt of pain.

"You are stronger than I thought... Listen to me, small one..." She began, seemingly ignoring the wound.

"Mom, no! What do I do, where do you keep the medicine?" Steven asked desperately, barely able to comprehend what he just did.

"If you go beyond this door, keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit." She continued, ignoring him.

"Mom, I'm sorry! I don't want to leave anymore! Please... please don't die!" He cried, hugging her, holding her as tightly as he could, hoping she won't leave."

"GREG... Do not let GREG take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed."

"My... My soul? Why would Dad want my soul?" He asked, in complete incomprehension. Dad would never hurt anyone, not even a fly.

Garnet continued on, as if not hearing him. "Be good, won't you?" She said, in a tone Steven was **NOT AT ALL** OK with.

"Mom!? No, you can't die" He cried out, but again, she could not hear him.

She slowly grunted out in one last strained tone " d." And then, she crumbled to dust. Above the dust, appeared a white, shuttering heart. Steven could not move, could not think, as he watched it shatter, and blow away in the non-existent wind.

He collapsed to his knees, and bent low over the pile of dust. "... Mom?" He asked numbly, reaching forward, and grabbing a handful of the dust. It just slid through his fingers, lifeless.

"Mom, please." He begged, pleading for her to come back. But nobody came.

.

"Human." He heard behind him. He stood up, and turned around. There was Greg, standing in his royal armor, crown nestled right between his horns, marking him as The King.

"It was nice to meet you." He said, as he always does. "Goodbye." With the final declaration, he whipped out his trident, glowing red with awful power. Steven had seen it dozens of times before, back before he died. But never before had he feared it, never before was he intimately familiar with how it felt spearing through his flesh.

Steven curled himself up in a ball as tight as he could in his mind, letting Connie try to handle it. He begged with reality ' _Please don't make me fight my dad. I don't want to kill him, I don't want to murder him like Garnet.'_ But despite how he pleaded, despite whatever Connie tried, and her own begging of how he had killed them too many times to count, there was no mercy to be found. The attacks kept coming with lethal intent, flames searing away their flesh, trident lopping off limbs. There was no mercy to be found here, his dad wants them dead. As he should.

Connie tried her best, but it ended as it had time and again, with her collapsing in pain, unable to move because of all her injuries. Greg stood over them, sorrow written plain over his face. "I'm sorry." He said in his deep rumbly voice, raised his trident, and it all went black.

.  
A blue shaft of light flew threw the darkness, followed closely by dozens more as they desperately pumped their legs, running from the monster chasing them. Steven had never been more scared in his life, death literally around every corner. He and Connie kept having to twist themselves to dodge a spear flying through the air, rising out of the ground, or spiking out of the ceiling.

And no matter how fast they ran, they could always hear her, Pearl thumping along behind them in her full suit of armor. She stalked them throughout all of Waterfall, she has killed them more times than everyone else combined. No matter what they did, no matter what they said, no matter what they tried, she always found them, and always leapt instantly to trying to kill them. So they ran, that was their only option, to run and run and run, and not look back or she would catch them again, and they would have to do it AGAIN.

As if reality felt like proving them right, a rock found it's way in front of their foot. They tumbled and rolled, and Steven thinks they might have broke their ankle. Before he could push himself back up, better at ignoring the pain than Connie, the ground beneath them pulsed blue, and they were impaled, once more. And they died.

.  
He felt a save file load, and saw once more the monstrosity that is tormenting them, but only for a second before he felt his entire body burn away in a bright flash of light.

He felt a save file load, and was met again with the twisted form of Flowey, and was this time impaled by a swarm of tentacles.

File load, burning beam of light.

File load, torn apart by tentacles.

File load, file load, file load. It happened, again and again. They were brought back to life, brought back to death, only to be killed an instant later. Steven was so consumed by agony, that he barely noticed when Flowey stopped. He formed a ring of bullets around them, and just held them there, trapping him.

"Hee Hee Hee." The being laughed in a distorted high-pitched tone that sent shivers down Steven's spine. "Did you REALLY think you could defeat ME!? I am the GOD of this world. And you? You're hopeless. Hopeless and alone."

.  
' _I am a demon.'_ Steven thought to himself, as he walked Connie through the deserted town of Snowdin, remembering when it use to be so full of life. When he didn't realize his true purpose. ' _I deserve to be alone, and any pain I get.'_

Steven walked Shop, only to find it abandoned. He hopped over the counter, and opened the cash register, taking all the money inside. He doubted he would need it, but he liked having it. Getting gold and EXP made him feel good, like little else anymore, more proof that he's just a demon.

Connie mumbled something that he couldn't quite make out, and he stopped to listen, but she didn't repeat herself. She's been far more quiet than usual, but she did absolutely nothing to stop him from murdering them. He knew she felt good when he did, and he knew she hated herself because of it. She really shouldn't, it's only natural to hate these Monsters who killed them countless times without any mercy.

After he was done with the Cash Register, he grabbed as many Cinnamon Buns as he could fit in his pockets. It made them really sticky, but they were good Monster Food, and he will probably need the food when he fought Pearl, she probably won't be pathetic like everyone else. He deliberately ignored the note asking him to not kill the shopkeeper's family.

Prepared for the future, he left, and continued through Snowdin. Towards the end however, there was a surprise. Papyrus stood there, waiting for him. ' _Oh, so is he finally going to try to kill us? Figures, even the nicest people have their limit.'_

Steven walked towards him, tugging on his Tough Glove to make sure it was on firmly, and ready for use. When he got within range, Papyrus called out "HALT, HUMAN!"

Steven of course, didn't stop and kept coming. "HEY, QUIT MOVING WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Steven decided to humor the skeleton, if just because he hasn't ever killed them yet. If he doesn't run after that, it's his own fault he dies.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY. FIRST: YOU'RE A FREAKING WEIRDO!" ' _... what? Does he not know what I have been doing? All the Monsters I have killed?'_

"NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT LIKE PUZZLES, BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE...THE WAY YOUR HANDS ARE ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER." ' _How stupid can this guy be! He has to know what happens to monsters after they die. Is he just ignoring it? Lying to himself?"_

"IT FEELS… LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH. HOWEVER! I, PAPYRUS, SEE GREAT POTENTIAL WITHIN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY!" Steven couldn't believe what he was hearing. His fist tightened, such that he'd probably make his palms bloody if he wasn't wearing gloves. He wanted to scream, but he pushed all those _**human**_ emotions down, demons don't feel anything, and he is a demon.

He starting slowly walking forward, glaring as hard as he can at Papyrus. ' _What kind of idiot believes a human can be good? Human are scum, and I am the worst human there is. He just needs to run, I won't even chase him. Just get out of my way, and you won't have to die!'_

"HEY, QUIT MOVING! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! HUMAN! I THINK YOU ARE IN NEED OF GUIDANCE! SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! BUT WORRY NOT! I, PAPYRUS… WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR. I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND!" Steven just started blocking out all the _WRONG WRONG WRONG_ things he was saying. He can't bare to hear them. ' _Why won't that idiot run!?'_

"I SEE YOU ARE APPROACHING. ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE? WOWIE! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING! I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!" Papyrus exclaimed, as he knelt down arms open for a hug. Instead of a hug, he was met with a fist, slamming into his chest with a loud bang, sending cracks throughout his armor and his bones.

Everything fell silent, then his head toppled forward, rolling off his chest before landing on the ground with a plop. "W-WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED…" He said, before his body turned to dust behind him.

"BUT… ST… STILL! I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU!" Steven could not believe his ears. This damn idiot believed they could be good, even after destroying his body? ' _Well, I guess I have to prove him wrong. There is no good in me.'_ Steven thought bitterly to himself, as he put his boot on Papyrus's face. " YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO! I… I PROMISE…" And with that, Steven pressed down, crushing the skull beneath his heel.

* * *

As soon as he woke up, tears streaming down his face, he immediately grabbed the closest thing close to him and pulled it into a tight hug, that intense hate ebbing away as he kept hugging. That feeling was unlike anything he had ever felt before, such finality in it, the venom directed towards himself. It made his skin crawl thinking back on it. As the feeling slowly went away, maybe because he found something to anchor himself to reality, he realized what he was hugging was Frisk, trying to struggle out of his iron hug, kicking and screaming.

"Let me go!" They yelled at him. "I need to stop the Gems, I need to save my family! I- I need-" As they went, they squirmed less and less, till they just started crying.

"It's going to be OK." Steven said, trying to reassure them, doing his best to push the dream aside for now. Frisk needs him. "I'm going to help you, you just need to calm down. It's all going to be ok."

"I screwed everything up." They sobbed. "I always screw everything up. Frisk, take over before I screw up again." And then, their sobbing lessened, and they grew still and quiet. They then reached up, and tugged on his sleeve. He slowly let go, and they turned around to face him. Their eyes were squinted, almost shut, such that he couldn't see their crimson eyes. They looked at him with what seemed like immense trepidation.

"You remember?" They asked.

He cocked his head slightly at the question, not sure what exactly they were questioning, the weird events of a minute ago and Frisk stabbing the Crystal Heart coming to mind. "What do you mean I remember?"

"Crystal Heart. Reality breaking. You remember?" They said in short, stunted sentences.

Okay so they meant that. "Errr yeah I remember that. You wouldn't mind explaining what all that was about?"

They stared at the ground for a moment, before responding. "We died. Reset. Stuck here now. Can't go back to mountain. Can't take back fight."

His mind flickered back to said fight and was reminded of the example he used earlier. "Peridot couldn't take back her fights with us, but she's still our friend now. Same can go for you right?" He gave them a small smile.

Frisk shook their head dejectedly. "Different. Have to hide hate. Would make family sad, if they knew. They deserve happiness."

His smile turned into a slight frown at that, it really did sound like he was talking to a different person. For better or worse he couldn't tell. "Well… life has its ups and downs and we all have to make due. And how would your family know about your fight, after what you said about them I'm sure if they knew about it they would have helped you."

"Gems would tell. Think they are problem. Garnet fight them, kill some. Need to stop her. Need to make everything good. Need to get Happy Ending. Can't now."

He reached out with a hand again and rested it lightly on their shoulder. "And I told you I would help with that, I've always tried to find the peaceful solutions and I'm not about to stop now. I just need you, the two of you, to work with me. You're willing to do that right?"

They stared at him, tentatively, unsure. "No one help before. Why you? Why care?"

"Because nobody should be hurt, sad or afraid. Everyone deserves to be happy, and you or whoever I was talking to earlier said that was the only reason you fought. To protect your family from being hurt."

They continued staring at him for a moment, before lunging forward and pulling him into a hug. "Thanks."

He returned the hug with a smile, feeling as if more progress had been made. The moment was ruined as his stomach growled, making him chuckle a little. "How about we talk some more over some food in town? We won't have to worry about the Gems coming down there, they hardly ever do if I don't ask them to do something with me."

Frisk giggled some, withdrew, and nodded at him, a small smile on their face.


	5. Everything Is Fine

Frisk sat on the white wooden chair, head resting on their arms, watching the clouds drift in front of the sun as they waited for Steven to come back with their donuts. One cinnamon for them and one for Chara when she was ready. "I got the donuts!"

Frisk moved their head slightly to see Steven leaving the Big Donut, the place he'd decided would be good for them to eat at. Frisk just liked the view of the ocean from here, it'd been a long time since they saw it. A small smile tugged at their lips as Steven hopped into the chair beside them, placing a bag in front of them. "It's been awhile since I've ate here and I'm so looking forward to this."

"Why not more often?" A simple enough question, something innocent. They didn't really look forward to talking, but it would probably be for the best since Steven could remember now. Lifting their head they grabbed the bag and looked inside, one cinnamon and chocolate. They let Chara know there was chocolate, hoping it'd entice her to come out at least a little, it would be better if she was here, even if it was just to observe. She ignored them. So instead they grabbed the cinnamon donut and saved the other for when Chara came out, it would just take a bit longer than they'd like.

Steven paused in his eating, a donut already half eaten in one big bite. Swallowing the mouthful he chuckled. "Well I've been trying to lose some weight and donuts don't help that much. So what do you think of it? Good right?"

Frisk looked down at the donut and took a bite, feeling the cinnamon wash over their tongue. They nodded and took another bite, kicking their legs back and forth under them. Steven nodded back, before returning to stuffing his face with his sprinkled donut and they nibbled their donut in silence. It didn't take Steven long to finish his donut and he started brushing off his hands on his shorts. "Soooo I think we should get this out of the way right?"

Inwardly sighing they nodded once, moving in their chair so they were half-turned to him and half-turned towards the ocean still. "You remember. How?"

He crossed his arms and looked to the side for a moment before looking back at them. "I honestly have no idea, one minute you were stabbing the heart the next…" A flash of unease flickered across his face, his earlier smile faltering. "I was hugging you close to me so you wouldn't run away."

That face he just had told more than he was, they had been a bit crazed yes, but that wouldn't explain it. They leaned forward and put their donut down on the table, placing their hands on their knees. "There's more."

Their statement caught him off-guard, telling him that they knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, his smile completely falling away. He frowned and slid down in his chair slightly, not meeting their eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Please?" They need to know what's going on if they are to fix anything. While they understand that some people have some really personal problems, this seemed to be directly related to them.

"I… I had some type of dream. Except it wasn't." He sat up slightly but looked down at his hands, rubbing his fingers together as if to get rid of something that wasn't there. "I don't know how to describe it, at all. I fought my family, I felt hate for myself…" He trailed off and looked at them. "It made me feel things I never felt about myself before. I'd rather put it behind me if you don't mind?" He offered a forced smile as reassurance.

'… _what? Does- Are those our memories!?'_ Frisk felt sick. All those runs, things they hope to put behind them, mistakes they removed from even Flowey's mind. And he knows, even if just part. ' _Oh no, what do I do! Do I make him promise to not tell!? Or do I just ignore it, hoping he doesn't connect the dots, or-'_

"Hey Frisk are you alright, you look a little pale." Steven asked, finally sitting back up. A few tense moments passed between the two, as Frisk frantically tried to think of a excuse, hoping that Steven would drop it.. He twiddled his thumbs, watching them lips pursed in thought before he finally spoke. "Something about that dream kind of reminds me about what you said earlier now that I think about it…. in that dream I died. Several times in fact. That wouldn't happen to be a coincidence would it Frisk?" He asked.

Frisk frantically nudged Chara, begging her to come out and talk for them. Chara was always the good talker, able to do complete sentences, and make good lies, and could talk no matter what. But she refused, claiming that she would just mess it up, Frisk was always the kind one, able to make friends, all she ever could do was kill people and make them hate her. Frisk wanted to yell at them that they were wrong, but they couldn't. They had to deal with Steven. But they had no idea what to say! After a few moments of staring at their hands, they managed to work out "... maybe?"

Steven blinked. Then he rubbed his face, covering it with his hands for a few seconds, then they crossed over each other in front of his chest. His eyes were steely hard as they looked into theirs. "Would maybe mean you know exactly what my dream would be if I told you?"

They couldn't answer him. They wished they could say 'no', but they couldn't. All they could do is duck their head and make themselves smaller, and wish he would just let this heard him sigh and the chair scrape against the concrete as he got out of his chair, then the sound of his flip-flops as he walked the short distance between the two of them, stopping at their side. A hand went to their shoulder and they couldn't contain a flinch. He is going to hit them, of course he is, he knows what a horrible person they are now. Everyone wants to kill them till they manage to trick them into thinking they shouldn't.

The hand remained where it was. "I haven't changed my mind you know. We agreed to talk out here because we were both confused a little bit right? That much hasn't changed, so come on please, just explain this to me."

They had to. There was no way around it. They had to tell him. "I died. I died, and died, and died." They managed to work out before they started to cry. "I hated them. I wanted to kill them. Make them suffer, just because they wanted to be free." They could take it anymore. They drew their feet up into their seat, and hugged their legs, tucking their face into their knees. "I'm so mean." Chara objected, stating how it's normal to hate them after all that, and how it was her that did all the killing, and then later forgiving them is them being the epitome of kindness. Frisk didn't reply, they have been through this argument before.

A pair of arms wrapped around them in a hug. "Hey, hey, you're not mean. How hard have you been trying to help everybody? Isn't that why you've been keeping us off the mountain? To save people, right?"

Frisk slowly nodded their head.

"Your other half talked about how you kept dying because of us which means you've been trying so hard to keep us from hurting anybody. Some mean person wouldn't suffer so much for others would they?"

Again, Frisk slowly shook their head, feeling themselves start to cry less. Steven was making sense, but they just knew deep down that he was wrong

"So that means that you aren't a mean person. And you don't have to worry anymore, remember? I promised I will protect you, you're not going to die again okay?"

Frisk nodded again, and drew themselves out from their knees, wiping their face with their sleeves. They did feel a bit better, even if they know that he was wrong. He smiled and cast a sideways glance towards the beach. "I noticed you looking to the ocean earlier, I know a place with a better view if you want to see?"

They nodded slowly, still a tad morose, but happy to be moving onto something else. They stood up, and almost without thinking, reached out and grabbed Steven's hand, holding the bag with Chara's donut in the other. He smiled at them, and led them off down the street. They really haven't seen the ocean in a long time, and it is as beautiful as they remember.

* * *

"Steven! Where are you Steven?" Yelled Pearl as she walked past the kitchen and towards the front of the shack they built into the side of the mountain for him all those years ago. Her eyes wandered over his bed, the couch and even to the deck outside but she didn't see a single hair of him. "Where did that boy go?"

The last time she had seen him he had been staring at Ruby and Sapphire's stones for the longest time at the counter, not saying anything. She had left him alone for a little while, meaning to come back after a little while to see how he was doing. But now she couldn't find him. Thinking for a moment she thought to herself 'Maybe he was in town?' and turned to the door.

She stopped as a red light started glowing behind her, and only one thing would be making that light right now. Turning on a dime she watched as Ruby reformed, a vague red humanoid shape floating in the air above the counter for a moment, before it stopped glowing and dropped Ruby onto the counter. Around Steven's size with a red tank top and black shorts, the only other accessory being the bandanna tied around her head, most people would find her nonthreatening. Although the twitching of her right eye and the way she was clenching her fists so hard would help to dissuade that notion. So would the seething anger in her voice as she asked, "Where's. The. Freak?"

(AN: Whelp it seems I lied about short chapters because that seems to be how me and my co-writer are doing it. We're just kind of going along until we feel that its a natural stopping point. Hope you guys enjoy anyways.)


	6. Never Break A Promise

Steven didn't say anything as the two of them, or was it three, sat on top of the mountain that housed his home, the sun turning a yellow-orange as it hovered over the sea on the edge of the horizon. Frisk had their arms wrapped around their knees, chin propped on top of said arms, a small smile present on their face. He sat beside them, his arms propping him up from behind, smiling because of the fact he'd managed to make a friend out of them, he even found out why they had tried fighting them. It was because they were scared and just trying to protect their family.

A nice and quiet moment, something that his life seemed to be having in shorter and shorter supply these days. So even if this moment was for Frisk to calm down and be a small bit happy, it would still be one he would appreciate. Looking over at them he studied their face, a tired smile like that of somebody much older than them, eyes gazing out at the ocean but unfocused. "You okay?"

They shook their head silently, the smile still there.

"Feel better at least?" A nod this time and he chuckled. "A small improvement is better than none right?" Another nod.

They didn't want to talk that much, which was alright so he went back to watching the horizon. Suddenly his phone started ringing, startling both him and Frisk. Giving them a sheepish grin he fished his phone out of his pocket and brought it to his ear. "Steven Universe speaking."

"Steven where are you? We're still hanging out tonight right?" His best friend Connie asked from the other end of the line, reminding him that they were going to talk about one of the new books she picked up.

Groaning he stood up, smacking his forehead. "Oh man I'm so sorry Connie, I completely forgot because of some things I had to deal with. Made a new friend out of it though." He waved at Frisk who turned slightly towards them, head tilted to the side, probably wondering who he was talking to. "Uh where are you at?"

"At your house, is everything okay?" She asked, sounding slightly concerned. He made it a point not to forget about anything he planned with his friends, so of course she'd think something would be wrong when he did.

"It's a bit complicated…" He said looking over at Frisk, not sure how to put all the events of the past few hours into words. "Hang on I'll come down and explain it to you okay?"

"Sure I'll see you in a minute."

With that he hung up and looked over to Frisk. "Are you going to be alright, I need to go talk to Connie real quick." Frisk nodded and waved him on. "Okay I'll be right back, see you in a minute." Turning around he ran past the lighthouse that had been behind them and down the mountain, the angle more than anything carrying him down, trying to think of how to explain it. He had a feeling Frisk would rather he didn't say anything about the dream and he didn't want to talk about it either, so maybe mistaking Frisk for some type of dangerous being? Tell her about time resetting when they died?

The whole two minutes it took him to run down the mountain he had been thinking about how to say, what to say and how much to say. Frisk seemed lonely so it would help for him to have more friends, even if they didn't know anything, it would help. Not to mention the last time he kept something secret from her it just snowballed into a huge issue. Maybe lead off with Garnet attacking Frisk? No that wouldn't sound too good, Garnet was acting weird and attacked a child? Reaching the bottom of the mountain he ran around the base and back towards the beach.

Explain who Frisk was, some of the problems they'd been through and that they lashed out at them leading to Garnet reacting in kind? Yeah that sounded better and didn't make them sound like some type of freak. With an idea of what to say in mind he kept running back to the house. In two minutes he was back down by the beach, panting for breath and resorting to a quick walk the rest of the way. Rounding the corner of the shore he saw Connie standing near the base of his house's stairs, pacing back and forth in orange boots, green skirt and white shirt all of which contrasted with her darker skin color.

The moment she saw him she stopped pacing and ran towards him as he panted and walked the rest of the way, the run having taken a lot of his breath away. "Steven what's going on?" A hint of trepidation in her voice.

Holding up a finger he caught his breath, hand on his knee for support. He really needed to work on his cardio. So first thing was tell her about Frisk, resets, freaking out and then Garnet acting weird in that order. "Just… nothing dangerous. A new friend of mine has been going through some things and the Gems overreacted."

Her eyebrow raised itself in mild confusion. "They're not hurt are they?"

Shaking his head he stood back up to his regular height, wiping a hand across his brow. "No they're fine, just scared out of their mind. You read a lot right? Ever read a book about time travel?"

Connie blinked, opening and closing her mouth several times before finally saying, "You're not about to say they can do that can you? Considering your life I wouldn't be surprised."

"Well yeah they can do that. And it only happens when they…" Sighing he looked up towards the mountain where they were waiting. "Well die. Which apparently happened a lot."

"Oh." Connie said, visibly shocked.

"When they first saw me and the Gems they snapped. I'm not completely sure why, but I have a good idea."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with you would it Steven?" She asked her eyes narrowing slightly.

And here would be the hard part. "Like I said when they first saw me and Gems they attacked, rushed us screaming about not dying again or letting their family die. I guess every other time we met them the Gems thought their family were corrupted gems, you know those things that we beat them and poof?"

"It wasn't the same for their friends?"

"No not at all… this time they got tired of trying to talk to us and the Gems hurt them pretty bad. After that I managed to talk to them and told them I wouldn't let them die anymore, which is where we're at now." He said, still looking up, hands in his pockets.

Connie covered her mouth, stifling whatever noise she was about to make, taking a second to compose herself. Her hands tightened into fists, her gaze following his. "I take it they're up there?"

"Yeah."

With a determined look on her face, lip pressed into a tight line and fists at her side she started walking around him towards the backside of the mountain where a person could walk up. He followed up close behind. "How has Garnet been acting weird?"

"Quiet, kept shushing us when we were talking. Didn't seem to be paying attention until we meet Frisk."

Connie grabbed the bottom of her chin, not slowing down in the slightest. "Sounds like she knows something or has been thinking hard… you wouldn't know anything more about their time travel thing would you?"

Shaking his head he sped up slightly to walk alongside her. "No not really, just when they die it all gets reset to a certain point in time. Right now their… save, I guess you can call it, is in the Temple." Why was she asking about the resets, that wouldn't have anything to do with Garnet… unless. "You're thinking Garnet's future vision has something to do with it?"

She nodded, face scrunched in concentration. "Frisk is a time traveler and Garnet is supposed to see the future somehow. Do you know how she does?" She asked looking to him.

"Yeah she let me use it once, lets you see all sorts of possible futures."

She slammed her fist against her open palm. "That must be it then! There's only so many possible futures for people like you and me," She pointed to the two of them in turn. "But somebody who can time travel would have endless possibilities and since they attacked you guys there has to be a bunch of futures where they attack you guys."

He looked at her, realizing what the implications would mean. "So Garnet's trying to protect us then?"

"Yeah it makes perfect sense, you just need to talk to her and make her realize they don't want to fight. That uh red one that looks like Garnet, she doesn't have future vision either does she?"

It took him a moment to realize who she was talking about, then went slightly pale as he knew he had to make sure Frisk was okay. "We need to go now." Without waiting for her to reply he broke back into a sprint, knowing that Ruby, the emotional side of Garnet, would try something drastic if she found Frisk.

* * *

As soon as Steven was gone, Chara sullenly returned from her self-imposed exile and reached out and grabbed the chocolate donut from the bag, and started munching on it, a lot slower than how she usually ate so that she could savor it, they haven't gotten chocolate in a good long while. She also steadfastly ignored the happiness radiating from Frisk that she came back, the idiot is too kind for their own good, after all they think that she of all people was worth saving.

"I wonder how far he's willing to go." She thought aloud, half to herself and half to Frisk. No one in the underground helped them, no matter what they said or did, they were always on their own going forward. The thought that someone is willing to help them truly caught her off guard, leading her to that unfortunate save. But she doubted he would truly carry out his promise, that he would stand against his friends for them.

Just as she finished her donut, she felt a wift of wind and Frisk rolled them to their right on a long-ingrained reflex, and she heard the location they were just sitting explode as something impacted it. When they completed their roll and ended up in a crouched position, they saw the latest threat, a short red kid with a square afro and a stone gauntlet… rather like Garnet. Damn, is she dealing with Garnet's daughter?

"There you are, you freak!" the kid yelled at them in rage before throwing herself at them in a roar of rage.

She was slow. Chara danced around her punch without any assistance from Frisk, and flicked out her knife about to POOF her, but Frisk held back the strike, suggesting they get info instead. "Why are you gems so obsessed with killing us!?" She spat in anger.

"Because you're fucking with time!" She leapt at them again, but compared to Garnet her reaction time was just too slow, and without any range attacks she was easy to dodge, like a charging bull. "All around you, the time-line keeps splitting and divulging, and ENDING. You're a threat to all of reality!"

This caused Chara to stumble, and if it wasn't for a quick intervention on Frisk's part they would have taken a rather painful hit. Her mind flashed back to Sans, and his talk of reports. But, they weren't going to erase this world again, were they?

A idea popped into her head, one that surprised Frisk, but after a moment of explanation they conceded. It's only just, after all. "Your problem is with me, and not the other Monsters from Mt. Ebott, right?"

This brought Ruby to a stop, as she looked at them in angry confusion. "Yeah, why?"

Of course the entire problem is her. And now to make the deal. "So if I let you kill me, would you leave the Monsters alone? Free to live their lives?"

Clearly she was not expecting this, shock going across her face as she processed what they just said. Before she could reply, Pearl and Amethyst appeared leaping over the light-house and landing behind the Red Kid, and quickly drew out their weapons but an out-stretched hand from the Red Kid, face set in a determined frown, stopped them. "Yeah. From what we could see, you are the only real danger."

"Alright then. Promise me that you will leave the Monsters alone, and I will let you execute me." A facade of shock and confusion went overcame Pearl and Amethyst as well, but they were unimportant, all of Chara's attention was on the Red Kid.

After moment, she responded "I promise." Hearing that, Chara dropped her knife, walked forwards a few paces, before getting on her knees and bowed her head, leaving herself open to their fatal blow.

Sensing nervousness from Frisk, she consoled them 'Don't worry. While dying is usually horrible, death itself is just like going to sleep. We won't feel anymore pain, and our family can live happily forever more.'

They heard steps approach and saw the Red Kids shoes before them. They could almost hear her cock back her fist, and they braced themselves for the killing blow. But instead of a stone-gauntlet crashing through their skull, instead something slammed into their side knocking them over, immediately followed by a fleshy THUMP. They twisted themselves as they fell, time going seeming to go slow like it often did in battle, and they saw Steven, bent around the Red Kids gauntlet. Then they hit the ground, and Steven was sent flying, past the giant statue's head and down to the beach below.

"Steven!" They heard the Gems shout in shock and despair, but they ignored it. They threw themselves to their feet, phone already in their hand. They hopped the white-fence, pressing buttons, down the statue's face, and jumped off it's nose. As they were falling, they finally finished pressing the buttons necessary and with a FOMP their phone activated it's Jetpack function. They quickly slipped it on and turned it on full-power, slowing their fall. Even with the jetpack however, they still landed hard enough that their knees yelled at them in protest, but they ignored it. They had to get to Steven. Another button press deactivated Jetpack Mode, and they were at Steven's side.

"Steven! Tell me you're alive!" They yelled, Chara unsure which of them actually said it.

He smiled up at them, his only response initially being a slow blink. "Thought I saw you in trouble, are you okay Frisk?"

"Who cares about me!? You're hurt!" She quickly flipped out their cell phone, about to get out some Monster Food.

He reached up and booped their nose. "I do, silly."

Chara felt her cheeks burn, and she couldn't think for a second. She wrestled control back of her mind and forced out. "S-Shut up." She retrieved something that they have been holding onto for when they really needed it, mom's Butterscotch Pie. "Hurry, eat this." She said, shoving the plate of pie in his face. There were thump sounds behind them, but they paid them no heed.

Taking a moment to register the food they put into his face he took it, taking a bite out of the front of it, before making an idle comment. "This is good."

Before they could reply they were shoved to the side as the Gems, the source of the thumps behind them, came to Steven's side, Red Kid sliding next to him with tears coming out like a waterfall, Pearl not far behind and Amethyst looking more angry than anything, the three of them effectively between them. Red Kid cradled his head in her arms, whimpering like she was the one that got hit. "Please tell me you're okay, please don't be hurt, just let this be one of your ill-timed jokes."

"Oh hey Ruby. When'd you get here?" He asked Red Kid, smile still there as he took another bite of the Butterscotch Pie.

Pearl dropped beside her, hands going over his neck and then down to his chest, stopping there for a moment as if feeling something then going to the collar of his shirt and ripping it apart. Her eyes immediately focused on one thing and they followed her gaze to a little gem where his belly button would be, a spider-web crack ruining what would otherwise be a beautiful rock. "H-his gem… it's cracked." Pearl said, her voice hitching, half-covering her mouth in shock and the other to control her breathing. "Its cracked…" The three Gems all looked at one another in a silent conversation. Then without a word she scooped him up and rushed to the house, the other gems following suit.

After realizing what happen, Chara ran along as well, tearing streaming down their face. Why does everyone that love her always end up suffering for it? She is truly a demon.

(AN: Since some people were so eager for a new chapter I forced myself through whatever mental block it was that I had in writing this chapter. Shout-out for my Co-writer helping me to trudge through this. Here's hoping the next chapter won't give me as much mental trouble.)


	7. Another Friend

Chara sat on the floor before the crystal platform, waiting. The gems piled on it and disappeared in a beam of light, and Chara couldn't figure out how to get it to activate so she was left waiting. Waiting, and reflecting on how she screwed up everything yet again.

Behind her she heard a bang as the front-door was violently thrown open, and she glanced over her shoulder to see a teenage girl with long hair panting. "Where's." She took another breath, eyes roaming over the house. "Steven?"

Chara gestured towards the platform. "They took him on there, and disappeared."

Her shoulders sagged, panting a little less. "Of course they'd… do that. How bad was it?"

"I don't know. No obviously broken limbs, but seemed concussed. They mentioned his belly gem being cracked, does that mean anything?"

"Oh." Was what she managed, stopping in her tracks with a look of shock settling over her face before muttering. "That's not good."

Chara just sigh and turned back to the platform. Of course it's worse than just a concussion and possibly broken ribs, why did she try to fool herself otherwise.

She seemed to collect herself and continued walking to her, stopping and sitting beside them, or rather more like flopping down on her back beside them. "You're Steven's new friend right? Frisk right?"

So Steven told her about them. How much did he say? Mentally poking over that a bit, she pushed it aside because there wasn't much way to tell, nor did it really matter. She deliberated for a moment whether to let her think that she was Frisk, but quickly made up her mind, deciding that she should get all the blame for her mistakes. "Chara." She mumbled.

She turned her head towards them, one eyebrow raised. "Thought he said Frisk, what'd he actually say then?" She shook her head and held out her hand for them to shake. "Connie."

Chara ignored it. "I'm Chara. You know it's Frisk when I'm not screwing everything up." She also ignored Frisk trying to comfort them.

She frowned and let her arm drop with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. "Sucks to be meeting like this. Do you want to know what I think a cracked gem means?"

She grunted an affirmative. She really didn't feel like talking much right now. Guess this was how Frisk feels most of the time.

"When Gems get hurt they Poof back into their little gems, the core of their being if you will. So when the gems, the whole thing that holds them together cracks, well I think that might be actual death instead of Poofing." She said with a groan, hands covering her face.

That's just great. She killed him. Guess they are going to have to go back to their last Save. She really hopes Steven doesn't remember this time, he might change his mind on helping them, considering they got him killed.

"Are you okay?"

"What does that matter?" Really, why do people keep asking that, it's **Steven** that is hurt.

"Because he was worried about you when we ran back up the mountain and all I saw was him getting flung off the edge. He's the type to throw himself in harm's way to help his friends and family and I'm pretty sure he got hurt to help you, so I'm asking how are you doing."

She sighed. "Nothing beyond some possibly sprained knees."

Connie sat up, one arm draped over a propped up leg. "At least you didn't get hurt that much. How much do you know about Steven's past adventures?"

"Nothing." And ain't that a change, someone knowing more about her than her them.

Connie took a deep breath before reciting like as if it was from a book. "Well the Gems are aliens, the ones you've met actually are the nicer ones. Thousands of them were here long ago before humans started recording history, many of them going crazy over time. Steven's fought dozens of them, his life on the line every time and he did it with a smile knowing that he was keeping them from hurting anybody. He's helped a Water Gem that turned the entire ocean into a pillar to try and get back home, that had only tried to drown and kill us, a Gem that single-handedly beat off all the Crystal Gems. They're the ones you know by the way. More Gems with better technology came and abducted him, dragging him into space to try and kill him, but he blew up their ship and made it crash back down into Earth. Then he made a friend out of one of the two who tried killing him, one who's helping to save the planet. Steven's been through a lot of things I never would have imagined before I met him."

"Sounds like he has had quite the adventure." What was really impressive is that he got all that done in one try. He really is quite impressive, he shouldn't waste his time worrying about them.

She shook her head with the slightest of smiles. "You don't sound surprised. But that's not the reason I listed it all. I'm saying he's been so close to dying so many times and he's always come out okay, the worst I've ever seen him hurt with was a black eye." She looked at the portal in front of them and said almost directing to them. "He'll pull through like he always does, no need for anybody to worry."

"Just because he hasn't died yet, doesn't mean he won't. People can be surprisingly fragile when hit from the wrong angle."

She cast a sideways glance towards them with a frown. "You're pessimistic aren't you?"

"Considering everyone who cares about me ends up suffering for it, I guess I might be." Chara said as sarcastically as she could, getting kinda miffed at Connie.

Connie remained silent for a moment before shrugging and looking back at the portal. "When he gets back I'll sic him on you and you'll be just as optimistic as him."

"If Papyrus couldn't do it, I doubt Steven could. Every time I killed him, his dying words were how he believed in me and how I could be a good person. What a load of crap, everyone around me suffers, and there's nothing I can do about it!" Chara finished by pounding the ground beside her, panting from her mini-rant.

Connie stared at them eyes wide, mouth agape in shock. She only managed to breathe out, "What do you mean?"

Chara couldn't keep sitting, and stood up and started pacing. "I've killed them. Killed them all. Mom, Dad, Undyne, Papyrus, Sans, all of them. Dozens of times. They were so intent on having me killed, so why shouldn't I have responded in kind?" Her voice started to become shrill, and she felt hot streaks run down her face. "I'm just a demon after all, bringing suffering is all that I'm good for. Most of them deserved it at least, for all they did to Frisk. They aren't evil like me, but despite Frisk's pleas they killed them hundreds of times. So I struck back, turned them to dust."

She then rounded on Connie, glaring at her with all her might. "See what I mean? Everyone around me suffers. When I try to protect Frisk, I kill everyone. When I try to free all of monsterkind, I get my brother turned into soulless flower, my father declare war on humanity, and my mother exiling herself. And now, when I try save all of monsterkind from the Gems, Steven, someone who **just met me** , get's his gem cracked!"

Connie stood up, fists hanging loosely at her sides, looking down on them. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, a pitying look on her face. "...I see why Steven decided to be your friend."

"Why!? Why would he try to help me when he knows he will get hurt for it?!" Chara demanded. She just could not understand, if people just stayed away they would not get hurt, so why do they keep insisting on loving her?

Connie sadly smiled. "Because that's how he is, the friend that's there no matter what. The only time he ever stopped trying to be my friend was because he thought that he'd hurt me." Her fists uncurled back into limp hands at her sides, one going up to their shoulder to rest on it. "So he's not going to stop being there for you anytime soon."

Chara had no idea what to say, but felt like she had to sit down. So she did, letting her legs collapse beneath her right there. She distantly noted Connie sitting down beside her. After a moment, she managed to say "No-one ever tried to help us in the Underground. The most they ever did, was just let us pass them by unobstructed."

"To be honest, Steven's pretty unique compared to most people I know."

Another silent moment passed, before Chara asked "Please don't tell anyone I killed everyone. Frisk loves all the monsters despite all they did to them, and they can't live with them happily if the Monsters knew."

"It's all in another timeline right? If Steven trusts you I can do the same." She said with a forced smile, waving it off. "Who's Frisk though, thought you said your name was Chara?"

"Frisk is the kid this body belongs to. The kindest idiot I ever met, forgave all the monsters for what they did, and keeps trying to convince me I'm not a demon. They can't really handle pain or fighting, so I tend to be in charge of that. I took over when Ruby attacked, and they have been letting me have control since then. I really should give control back, they are much better at making people like them." Chara said dejectedly.

She looked at them eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you like a fusion or something?"

"I don't know. After they fell down the hole, I woke up inside their head. I should be dead, so I have no idea why I'm here."

"Ah… What's it like for you two?"

"We share the body, both feeling the same things. Though it's possible to distance ourselves from the senses when we aren't in control, which is good for Frisk, they can't handle pain like me."

"Sounds a little like me and Steven." She said propping her chin on her hands.

"How so?" Chara asked confused. She's fairly certain they don't share a body.

"Fusing is when a Gem… well fuses with another person. It kinda combines the two minds together but doesn't at the same time. Sounds like what you and Frisk are dealing with." She explained.

"Our minds aren't fused though. We just share the body, we can talk mentally and feel each other's feelings, but that's it."

She shrugged. "It's hard to describe. Do you have any idea where they took him too?"

Chara shrugged "No idea. You know more about them than me."

"I don't have a clue either then." She sighed. "I wonder if he can't heal himself with his spit or something."

"What?"

"Oh uh I used to wear glasses." She said, pointing at her eyes. "He fixed my eyesight by accident when I got some of his backwash. I was just wondering if he couldn't do it to himself."

"If he can, I guess that would explain how he has survived all those adventures. I can only heal myself with Monster Food, which I have to take time to eat. Didn't seem to work on him though, the Butts Pie always healed me up all the way but it didn't even fix his concussion."

"Well he's part Gem so maybe that's why it helps you and not him… worse comes to worst my Mom is a doctor and she could patch him back up. Probably."

"If she can't, I can just reset. I'd rather not though, would have to explain things to him again. Assuming he doesn't remember I got him killed."

She turned her head towards them, frowning. "He said you can only do that when you die."

"Yeah? So what?"

Connie looked back to the platform. "He can forgive you for getting him killed, probably won't even blame you for a second. Something he won't forgive you for is killing yourself."

"Well tough nuts, his life is worth more than mine, especially when I always come back."

"He still wouldn't forgive you, regardless if you can keep coming back. But I doubt we'd know if you did. I'm just letting you know anyways."

"He remembered last time somehow, after I broke that crystal heart and apparently reality too. And if that makes him hate me, at least he won't get hurt."

Once more she looked back at them. "He wouldn't hate you, he doesn't hate anybody. He'd be disappointed and what do you mean he remembers?"

Chara sighed. Seriously, if people just stayed away they wouldn't suffer. "He said some stupid stuff that for a moment tricked me and filled me with DETERMINATION, causing a save-point in the bubble room. I freaked out, cause that meant it I couldn't undo my fighting Garnet, so I thought I had to solve the Gem Threat before they ruined everything again. Ended off in a stand-off atop the Crystal Heart, and when Pearl attacked me I struck the heart. Then space seemed to break, and next thing I knew I was dead. When I reseted, it turned out that Steven somehow remembered the whole thing." And saw some of our memories, what the heck was with that?

"Oh. Okay."

Suddenly, a ringing noise filled the air, surprising them both. Chara quickly realized it was their phone, and drew it out. It was Mom. She let Frisk take over and they answered it. As soon as they hit accept Toriel's voice came through. "Are you alright my child? You disappeared so suddenly, and no-one knows where you are."

"Something important, need to handle it." Frisk replied softly. "Haven't changed mind. See you later."

"Oh, alright dearie." She said sadly. "Just make sure to call if you need anything, we are all willing to help you however you need."

"Alright. Love you, Mom."

"Love you too."

And with that, they hung up, and stared at their phone for a few moments, unsure if they will really return like they promised, or if they will end up giving up their life to Ruby. Because their opinion on that hasn't changed, their family's happiness is worth more than their own.

"Your mom?"

"Yeah." Chara said, taking control again since Frisk doesn't like talking much. "The second kindest Monster I know, took me in back when I was alive, and tried to do the same for Frisk when they fell."

Connie nodded, not looking at them. "So where are you and your family from? I think I'd know if a bunch of Monsters lived nearby."

"The Underground, an expansive underground cave system that they have been trapped in since they were magically sealed there thousands of years ago."

"Family still down there?"

"Not since about…" She paused to check the time on her phone. "7 hours ago when The Barrier was broken. Last thing I knew, was that they were waiting for some of the local authorities to arrive so they could figure something out so the immigration of Monsters won't terribly upset the economy or something like that. But then the Gems came, and I had to deal with them."

"Wonder why it's not on the news then… good they got out. Do they know anything about the Gems?"

"I don't think they do. I never heard of them before, and I stopped them before they met the Monster's this time."

Before Connie could reply the pad in front of them glowed the same bright blue light it had when the Gems had disappeared, dissipating to reveal said Gems again. With Steven clutched tightly in a crying Pearl's arms, her face nothing but a frown and dried up tears, going down to soak Steven's hair. Amethyst on the side had her fists clenched, teeth grinding with her own dried tears, already stomping down from the platform. Ruby was a cross between the two, still crying but looking furious.

Connie bolted upright, more emotional in her voice now that she was up close to Steven.. "Is Steven okay!?"

Pearl looked at them as if just realizing they were there. Ruby was the one who spoke though, tears flowing freely from her eyes, one hand going up to wipe them away. "Rose's Fountain didn't fucking work, his gem's still cracked. It's supposed to heal everything and it didn't heal fucking Steven!" She punctuated with a stomp.

Amethyst brushed past the two of them without a word, sparing only a brief glare at them but otherwise saying nothing. Pearl stayed still on the platform, still clutching Steven to her chest, tucking his head into her shoulder. Ruby dropped to the ground, hands angrily tugging at her hair while crying. "What are we supposed to do!? Rose's Fountain didn't do anything to help him and that's the only thing that can heal Gems!"

Connie walked closer to the portal and towards Steven, stopping only a foot away from them, tears beginning to gather now that she could see Steven for herself. "We take him to the hospital, where my Mom works. He's half-human so maybe some medicine will help him."

Pearl snapped her head towards Connie, the corner of her mouth twitching, then looked back down at Steven still cradled in her arms. "T-t-that could work right? Right?" She asked Ruby with a faltering smile, who didn't raise her gaze from the floor she was staring down at, with her fists clenched as hard as she can. Pearl didn't seem to notice but looked back up to Connie, tears still falling from her eyes.. "S-she can help Steven r-right?"

Connie nodded and pulled out her phone, dialing a series of buttons. "Does Greg know?" Pearl shook her head and Connie turned to them. "Do you know who Greg is?"

"No." Chara said, shaking her head. She really needed to learn more about Steven, it feels really weird to not know something about someone.

"Well Greg is Steve-" She paused bringing the phone closer to her ear. "Mom, Steven needs an ambulance… No I'm fine… he has at least a concussion…. I'm going to go find Mr. Universe right now… I will." With that Connie hung up on the phone and turned back to them. "Greg is Steven's dad, big guy, balding-head, sunburns all over him. We need to go find him and tell him Steven's hurt okay?" She said, hand having pointed at each part of herself in turn.

Chara nodded, ready to do whatever was needed. Connie wheeled around and ran back out at full-speed with them right behind to go find Greg.

(AN: Sorry if this one don't seem as well as the others, going through some family troubles. Be sure to leave a review and etc.)


	8. Not Your Average Friend

Connie sat in the backseat of her dad's car, across from their guest(s) Frisk and Chara who seemed to be lifeless as they lay against the door. The entire time at the hospital they had remained silent, watching Steven as he lay in the bed, doctors rushing to and fro, Mr. Universe talking to her mom about what was wrong with Steven. They had all stayed for as long as they could before her mom made them leave because of the time and the fact only family could stay after hours. So her dad came to pick them both up, their guest not saying anything either way.

Her dad finally broke the silence after three minutes at a stop sign, looking at them through the rear-view mirror. "Where should we drop your friend off Connie?"

"Uh yeah, where should we drop you off?" She asked them, no idea to where they lived at and knowing that they weren't in good relations with the other Gems.

"Anywhere's good." They replied, shrugging and continuing to look out the window as her dad started driving again.

Her dad shook his head, Connie wondering if they even had a place to live now with how they answered. "I wouldn't be much of a parent if I didn't take you back to yours, so where to?"

They were silent for a moment, before saying. "Stop here."

Looking out the window she became more confident in her idea about them not having a home, the current block housing a gas station, a fast food restaurant and several stores. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her dad frowning in the rear-view mirror so she quickly suggested, "Chara could stay with us, Steven's their friend too and Mom would let us both know when we can see him sooner than otherwise."

Neither Chara or her dad said anything while they looked at each other through the rear-view mirror, and Connie noticed their hand resting near the handle to the door. After a moment he asked, "Is that okay Chara?"

Again they were quiet for a moment, before they seemed to plaster on a happy smile and reply "Yep."

Her dad looked in the rear-view mirror one more time before shaking his head and focusing on the road. "It'll just be a dozen or so minutes until we get home then."

They nodded, and after a moment moved their hand back to their lap. The ride continued on in silence as her dad kept driving them all home, nobody deigning to be the first to say something. Like her dad said it was only a dozen minutes before they arrived at her home, identical except for color to the others on the same block. Her dad shut off the car and exited the car, walking up to the door to unlock it. She hung back with them and gave a small smile.

They were busy staring at her house in what seemed to be amazement, head tilted up to look at the whole thing. "Big house." They said simply.

Shrugging she remembered some houses she lived in once, some being much smaller and others being even bigger. "It's tall but not too spacious on the inside. That's why there's three floors though."They simply nodded, still staring up at the house. They have gotten rather quiet since they reached the hospital, usually never saying more than four to five words per sentence. Striding forward she said, "Well come on, I'll show you around."

Again, they didn't say anything, simply nodding and following her. Her dad held the door open for the both of them then shut it, immediately slipping off his shoes. "Make sure our guest is comfortable Connie, I need to go take care of some paperwork." She nodded as he went over to the stairs in front of the kitchen door and started walking up.

Turning to them she asked, "So do you want to see the rest of the house, want something to eat or…?"

Instead of answering her, they walked over to one of her two couches and sat themselves on it, before turning to her. "Questions."

Her eyes flickered to the stairs where her dad had disappeared up, then back to them and walking over. "Questions that my dad wouldn't like to hear?" She asked sitting next to them.

Nodding, they replied. "About Steven and Gems."

"What about them?" She had no idea how much they knew right now, beyond fighting the Gems once upon a time. They might know a few things she didn't, unlikely but it could be possible with their time power.

"What do the Gems do?" Was their first question.

Scratching her head she thought of what Steven had said a while ago, along with what she had been present for. "They fight to protect humanity and save them from evil Gems." She added that last bit on thanks to Homeworld Gems and shattered ones.

"Then why attack the monsters? They aren't evil." They asked with a worried expression on their face.

"Well some Gems look like Monsters. One Cluster Gem was this random assortment of arms on a body, no face or anything. So maybe mistaken identity?" She suggested.

"Maybe…" They mumbled, but didn't look too satisfied. "How many Crystal Gems are there?"

Taking a moment she mentally counted off on her hand. "Five right now if you count Peridot."

"Peridot the green one?"

"Yeah that's Peridot. I'm guessing you already meet all of them?" She asked with a slight wince.

They nodded, and remained silent for a moment. Then they asked "How'd you meet him?"

Leaning against the back of the couch she told, "Well the first time was when he was part of a parade, though we didn't say hi to each other. We did meet again on the beach close to his house, ended up trapping us in a bubble," She laughed at that, along with all the things they had tried to get out of it. "Tried popping it with a harpoon. Ended up at the bottom of the ocean but we eventually made it out okay."

That made them smile a bit, before it turned back into a thoughtful frown. They turned fully to Connie and asked, "You know how to fight?"

"Yeah, Pearl taught me some and I've helped Steven once or twice with stopping Cluster Gems. He even gave me his mom's sword, have it up in my room." She said looking up as if she could see through the floor to her room.

"How good are you?"

Bobbing her head she said, "Well with Steven's help we beat dozens of Pearl's holograms, I've popped a few Gems myself and Pearl says I'm a good swordsman, so I'd like to think I'm pretty good." A pause. "Why?"

With a serious expression they stood up and stood before her. "Try to hit me."

She blinked in surprise at their demand, not expecting it in the least. "What? Why?" She said repeating herself.

"Need to know how good you are, in case they attack you too." They explained, with the longest sentence they have said since the Hospital.

Not sure what else to do and not wanting to try and hit them she asked, "In case who attacks me?"

They shrugged. "Whoever attacks me. Gems, monsters, humans, whoever."

Looking at the stairs for an escape she found none. "You're Steven's friend and well, that sort of makes you mine too. I'm not going to try and hit you." She said with a shake of her head.

"Don't worry, one hit won't kill me." They said reassuringly, and completely missing her point.

A single nervous laugh she shook her head again. "I'm not going to hit you because that's not what friends do. Well not seriously anyways and you're being really serious about this."

"Then don't hard. Just try to hit me." They were really determined about this.

"Uh… okay." She said, unsure of doing it but standing up regardless. Bringing up her fists she half-shrugged asking, "So hit you now?"

"Mm-hmm!" They happily hummed.

"Okay then…" She said, before half-trying to hit them, they barely moving their torso to dodge it. "Well I couldn't hit you." She stated taking a step back.

They frowned at her. "Really try. Need to know if I need to protect you."

She frowned back. "Like I said I've fought a few Cluster Gems before, I can handle myself."

"Don't know how tough those are. Come on." They said, starting to get frustrated.

Sighing she shook her head once more crossing her arms. "I'm fine okay? No need to worry about me."

"Come on." They huffed with a foot stomp. "Don't want you to die just because I thought you could handle it." Again she was caught off-guard with the way they phrased it, steadfast in having her try to hit them. Sighing again she brought up her fists once more, prompting a smile from them. "Don't worry, I'm good at dodging."

Rolling her eyes she actually tried to land a hit this time, them dodging with just as much ease as the first time, moving their head to the side for the second and took a step back for the third. They hopped as she tried to trip them up with a sweep of her leg, already twisting in the air for her fourth punch, landing in a low crouch and she struck out with the fifth punch, intending to catch them as they stood back up.

Suddenly she found herself staring up at her ceiling, the red and yellow carpet splayed out on the floor in front of her couches scratching at the back of her neck. Blinking she wondered what had just happened, she was just standing wasn't she?

"You did really well!" She heard a voice say brightly, and when she looked over she saw Chara crouched, and holding out a hand to her.

Blinking again she frowned and took the hand, standing back up and patting the back of her shirt. "Why was I on the ground?"

"Did better than I expected, reflex. Sorry." They said breaking eye-contact with her, sounding a bit embarrassed.

With a short laugh she went back to the couch and sat on it, them joining her in a moment. "I told you I could handle myself. But what'd you do though, flip me?"

"Mm-Hmm!" They happily nodded. "You did really good, probably could fight Ruby for a little while."

With a smile of her own she said, "Well I do spar with Pearl all the time so it makes sense."

"Most people who attack me shouldn't be a danger to you. Just be careful."

She frowned as they said that, again the idea of people attacking them seeming to be perfectly normal. Sure they weren't' exactly normal either but that wasn't a good thing. "Why are you so nonchalant about people attacking you?"

Again they shrugged. "Almost everyone does. All of my friends did, except Steven so far."

Opening her mouth to say something, then closing it to think of what she'd say, opening and closing her mouth several times before settling on something. "Is that supposed to be normal for Monsters or something?"

They sighed, and in doing so seemed to lose all their energy and smiles. "No, people just always want me dead till I change their minds."

"Uhhh…" She began not sure what exactly to say to that. She couldn't say anything to it being wrong because they did say earlier the Monsters had tried to kill them multiple times, the Gems fighting them because of the Monsters. Looking at their face, they could see how tired they were, exhausted and sad with eyes downcast. "Didn't you want to talk about Steven, there's plenty of stuff you probably don't know."

They leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, humming thoughtfully. "Live with the Gems?"

"Yeah, that second floor in the shack, don't know if you looked at it, is his room." She said, using her flat hands to show where it would be.

"Any important Gems besides the Crystal Gems?"

She thought of the two Gems that were currently at the bottom of the ocean. "Well… there's Jasper and Lapis. Lapis is the one who made the ocean into a pillar and Jasper is one of the two Gems that tried abducting Steven, the other being Peridot. Right now they're fused together at the bottom of the ocean."

"...Why?" Frisk asked confused.

"Jasper fought Garnet, got beat and left inside the ship as it crashed from orbit, survived that without any help and stood back up to try and fight the Crystal Gems again. Lapis thought the only way to stop her was to fuse together and trap both of them in the bottom of the ocean." She explained as Steven had told her.

"But Garnet beat Jasper. Surely she could again, with the help of the other Crystal Gems. Especially if Lapis helped, considering she beat all of the Crystal Gems."

She shrugged, not completely sure of it herself. "Lapis was also their prisoner at the time, meaning they might have had some way of beating her. And I'm not sure how close of a fight it was between Garnet and Jasper but I do know she's more durable than Garnet. I mean she stood up from under a wrecked starship," She said exasperated, the image seeming like a horror movie. "And demanded to fight them. The Crystal Gems only survived because of Steven's bubble. That makes it seem like you can't stop her so maybe that's why Lapis did it."

"Hmm," They thoughtfully hummed "bottom of the ocean? Nothing more specific?"

She shook her head. "They've spent entire days trying to find them, but haven't been able to figure out where they are. Nowhere near Beach City, the Gems already looked there. Why?" She asked, wondering what they were thinking.

"Might have to deal with them after the Crystal Gems." They stated plainly before moving on. "The Crystal Gems all have Gem Weapons, does Steven?"

Again the nonchalantness regarding fighting, it was just a slight bit unnerving. "Well he has his shield, a bubble and I have his mom's sword upstairs." She paused before adding on, "He also has his own personal armory."

"How good is his shield?"

"To my knowledge he's never broken it and can throw it around. We make a good team with my sword and his shield."

"Is Fusion usable for Combat? Sounds like it'd work good for your combo."

She laughed slightly at that, knowing the only time she and Steven ever fused was when they'd been dancing. "Garnet's a fusion and the other Gems fuse sometimes but me and Steven only do it by accident really…" She trailed off, thinking of why everything had to be about fighting and how their friends apparently all tried to kill them. "Did your friends really all try to kill you once?"

Again, they sighed, seeming to lose their energy and becoming incredibly tired, and just stared up at the ceiling for a while. "Only Papyrus never did, Mom never _tried_." They replied, putting emphasis on the word try.

Her eyes widened in surprise and alarm. "Your Mom killed you?"

"She didn't mean to. It was an accident." They began, leaning forwards and resting their arms on their knees, staring at the ground. "She- she just wanted me to stay. Saying that if I must go, I had to prove myself, had to prove I was strong. But I didn't want to kill her again." They began to cry "I couldn't fight her, and I dodged, and accidentally fell right into a fire-ball. It burned, and the last thing I saw was her face, wracked with grief and shock. All because I'm stupid and mean and kept trying to leave." They were straight up sobbing at this point.

Not knowing what else to do she scooted over to wrap them in a comforting hug, words escaping her as to what they'd been through. They continued to cry for a while, not saying anything. After a while, the tears slowed to gentle sobs, and then sniffles. "You want something to drink, water, tea maybe?" They nodded and she patted them before standing up and going into the kitchen, past the stairs and the phone hanging on the wall and to the cabinets that held their cups.

Flicking the teapot on she grabbed a packet of tea, grabbing one at random and started to make the tea, a minute passing before it was made. When it was made she walked back into the living room and handed it over to them with a small smile. "I hope it helps a little."

They took a small sip, then started a bit, looking at the cup in surprise. Before she could ask anything, they mumbled to themselves "Dad's favorite." They then continued sipping it, it seeming to calm them greatly.

"You okay?" She asked, hands clasped in her lap.

"Better." They supplied, still staring down at their tea.

As far as she could tell they meant that. "I'm sorry for bringing that up."

"It's alright. I'm just a mean doo-doo head." They quietly said in response.

"Steven sees you're better than that you know." Connie said quietly with a smile.

"I know..."

"If you want I can be the third friend that doesn't try to hurt you?" She offered.

They were silent for a moment, before responding "Alright."

A gentle smile to them she looked at the clock. "Do you want to go to bed, leave you alone for a bit, more questions or something else? Maybe something to eat?"

Glancing up at the clock themselves, they replied. "Bed please."

"Well normally our guests sleep on the couches, if you don't mind anyways?" They shook their head. "You'll be okay down here?" They nodded. Getting up she walked over to the closet and grabbed the blanket that Steven had used when the winter storm had came. Giving it to them she asked, "Need anything else?" Again, instead of saying anything, they shook their head. "Well good night."

"Night." They replied, still looking at their Tea. With that she walked up the stairs and to her room to get some sleep, though she doubted it.

* * *

She came down the stairs the next morning yawning and still tired from not getting enough sleep last night, having been up worrying about Steven and wondering about Frisk. She paused on top of the stairs as she noticed her guest standing at the door, left hand in their pocket, just looking at the door. Connie blinked, wondering what they were doing. "What're you up to?"

They started slightly, before turning around smoothly, right hand going to its own pocket. "Nothing, thinking."

"What about?" She asked stepping down to the bottom of the stairs.

"What to do next." They said simply.

She looked to the kitchen. "Well how about breakfast?"

After a moment, they responded "Alright."

Waving them on after her she went into the kitchen and opened up the fridge looking through it. "Uh we don't really have cereal or anything like that. We have eggs, fruits and stuff like that if you want?"

"Anything's good." Was their simple reply behind her.

They really didn't say anything much about what they wanted did they? With a slight huff she closed the fridge door and went over to the fruit bowl on the counter, grabbing two apples one for each of them she handed one to them. "I didn't feel like cooking." She said with a half-smile.

They took the apple and placed it on the counter beside them, fishing out their phone. They pressed a few buttons, and out came several golden coins, which they promptly held out to Connie with a smile.

She stared down at the glittering coins. "Are you trying to pay me?"

They nodded. "For the apple."

Pushing the hand down, not quite sure if those were actual gold coins, she shook her head. "You don't need to pay me for it, you're a friend."

"And?" They asked, clearly not understanding her point.

And? "I'm not selling you it, I'm giving you it." She said with a nervous laugh. "Like how I let you stay the night and didn't ask for money."

"Oh, right." They said, before pressing some more buttons and out came a bunch more coins, almost more than they could hold in a single hand. They deposited the mound of coins on the counter, beside the Apple. "90 G. Enough?"

Connie stared at the heap of coins. "Are those really gold?"

"Yeah?" They asked, seeming to not understand why she was asking, before a look of realization crossed over their face. "Oh yeah, Humans don't use Gold." Then they just shrugged.

"Yeah." She said still looking at the gold, wondering why they had so much of it. And how their phone acted as a teleporter for said gold. Shaking her head she returned to the original subject. "Okay we're friends right? That means we look out for each other right?"

"Yeah. You help me, I help you." They said, gesturing towards the money pile.

Frowning she replied, "Yeah, but I'm just looking out for you. You didn't have a place to spend the night, so I gave you one." She gestured all around to her house. "You didn't have anything to eat, so I gave you something to eat. I don't expect anything back."

"Just because you don't expect it, doesn't mean you don't get it." They replied, grabbing the apple and taking a bite of it.

She narrowed her eyes and raised her apple up to her mouth. "Well as your friend I respectfully decline your money." She said taking a bite out of her apple.

Now they looked extremely confused "Why?"

"Because I don't need it." She said exasperated, just as confused as to why they didn't seem to get the simple idea of a friend giving a friend something.

"But you could use it. Get candy, or books, or something."

"I'm not allowed to have have half the stuff that's in most candy. There's no libraries around here and I don't want anything really." She looked at the pile. "I mean is that seriously how much you pay somebody for an apple?"

"Ten for apple, eighty for a night's stay in Snowdin Inn."

She looked at the apple in her hand. "I pay less than a dollar for an apple…" She said in bewilderment at the prices that they apparently paid. Looking again at the pile of coins she finally noticed something missing from the knife block on the counter. Namely the Chef Knife, the largest of them all, making her wonder when they last used it. She didn't remember them using it for over a week, so where could it have gone? Looking to her guest to see if she was being rude, by staring at the knife block she thought of something. "Chara," She said instead of Frisk, remembering what they were talking about before. "Do you know where my knife is?"

They suddenly grew incredibly sheepish, staring down at their feet, mumbling something Connie couldn't hear.

Taking a step forward Connie leaned down slightly. "I didn't catch that."

"Helps keep her calm." Frisk mumbled just a bit louder, so she could actually catch it.

"Why does she need my knife to be calm?" She asked, having a slight idea as to why.

"The option to fight." They mumbled while shuffling her feet.

Sighing she dropped down to a knee so they'd be almost level with her face. "Nobody around here is interested in trying to fight a kid, take it from me. I've lived here for over a year."

"Haven't met me yet."

She wondered how Steven broke through their defenses so quick. She obviously wasn't going to convince them that nobody was going to fight them, probably having had that lesson hammered in long ago. "Well you can't keep mine, Mom or Dad are going to notice and they won't like the idea of somebody they just met yesterday running around with their knife."

Their posture shifted, shoulders un-hunching, stance widening, and face paradoxically opening up into a scowl. "And how would they know I have it?"

She looked towards the knife-block then back at them with a brow raised. "You took the largest knife in the kitchen, where both my parents like us to eat meals in. It's not exactly hidden from sight."

"And how would they know _**I**_ have it?" They repeated. "Cause unless you break your Promise, they wouldn't have any reason to think I took it."

Sighing again she stood back up. "My dad didn't know anything about you but he caught on pretty quick that you needed a place to stay. Not mentioning we haven't used that knife in weeks and the same day as a child that my dad thinks lives on the street the knife goes missing? He might not connect it but I think he would, he has to be observant to be a security guard."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? My knife is all the way up by the light-house. What am I supposed to do when someone attacks us while we're on our way to get it?"

Running her hand through her hair she ignored the dead-set fact of somebody attacking them. "Well you didn't always have a knife did you? Just do what you did before you had a knife."

"What, you want me to use the Frying Pan?" They asked incredulously "That's a way worse weapon!"

She paused at the fact they really did use a Pan as a weapon before continuing. "My dad's a security guard, I fight aliens and train with aliens all the time and you're friends with everybody who's tried to kill you. I think we're okay without my knife."

They rolled their eyes in response. "Frisk only succeeded in becoming friends with them after several dozen tries. Do you really think we should just let whoever kill us that many times, till they can figure out how to make them stop? Plus, how are you suppose to defend us when you don't even got your sword? Steven can summon his shield at least, so can use it whenever, can you summon the sword?"

"Well no to summoning the sword and letting yourself die, but I haven't died once, nobody around here has died once. We all know how to get through life without that happening and we all get along fine, nobody trying to kill one another. I don't mean just my family I mean the entire town, we've all gone this long without carrying weapons or dying, so come on. Just trust me?" She asked with a forced smile.

They began to say something, retort ready on their lips, before they paused, and stared at her intensely for a moment, before throwing her hands in the air and huffing "Fine!" She then trudged over to the knife block, and the knife appearing in their hands in a blur before she slammed it into place. "There, happy?"

"I'll be happy when I can convince you that you aren't going to be killed." She took a bite out of her apple and leaned against the counter, feeling tired from lack of sleep and dealing with them. Hopefully she could learn how to talk to them after a while.

"Well you're going to have a sad life, cause you are wrong." They fished out their phone again and started pressing buttons, before pausing. "Hey, since you seem so certain that our life will just suddenly turn around, how about a wager?" They looked up at her. "If it's like you said, and no-one attacks us all day, I will quit carrying weapons. But, when we DO get attacked, I get that sword, since you obviously aren't using it. Deal?"

Even though she was positive they weren't going to be attacked, she was still hesitant about betting Steven's Mom's sword. "Er, it's not really mine to bet with."

"He gave it to you right? That means it's yours to do what you want. Besides, if you are so sure, what do you have to lose?" Chara taunted her.

"He gave it to me because he trusts me with it. I'm not going to betray that trust by betting on his Mom's sword, it's one of the few things I know he has left of her." She said shaking her head. "Ask me to bet with anything else and I'll do it."

"You don't have anything else I want." They shrugged. "But I guess that proves that you aren't so certain. You really shouldn't talk so assuredly about something you are so uncertain about." They went back to pressing buttons on their phone, and a old-fashion looking revolver popped into existence. They snatched it out of the air and tucked it behind their back, mumbling to themselves "Maybe this will work better, range is more effective when your opponent doesn't have any."

She scowled at them, ignoring the gun they had now. "The only thing that proves is I know better than to treat his Mom's sword like something that I can replace. She can't come back ever and that's one of three things I know he has left of her, the other two being his gem and a video of her." Not feeling her appetite anymore she walked over to the trash can and dropped the apple in it.

"Of COURSE it's irreplaceable." Chara said, looking at her incredulously. "It would unbalance the wager if it wasn't. We are both risking something that we can not replace without the other party returning it. You the sword, me my right to defend myself. I'd be putting both my and Frisk's lives entirely on your word if won. I am not risking that for any small prize." They stated firmly.

Running a hand through her hair she didn't say anything and walked over to the doorframe then paused in it. "I'm taking a shower then my Dad's going to take us back to the hospital. There you can make your bet with Steven, because it's not my place to say anything about it." She said waving her hand up into the air. They didn't say anything as she walked back up the stairs.

AN: Sorry for the loooong wait people, didn't mean for it to take so long. Just with family things, writing mojo and the fact I couldn't write Connie's POV for the longest while without seeming in character, it just all added up to take a bit. Hope you all enjoyed it even through the wait.


	9. Day in & Day out

Frisk stood before the hospital, hesitating. Now that they were here, they were suddenly unsure if Steven would even want to see them, they were after all what put him here. Connie paused beside them. "Come on, you want to see how Steven's doing don't you?" She asked, still a hint of hostility from their earlier talk.

Frisk hurriedly nodded their head. Of course they do! But… "He might not want to see me." They quietly replied.

She shook her head and smoothed out the front of the skirt she wore. "Only if he's still knocked out with whatever Mom gave him. He'd be more offended if you didn't come."

She knows him better, so she is probably right. Nodding their head in understanding, they started forward and followed Mr. and Dr. Maheswaran. Once they got inside though, their pace slowed a little and they had to suppress a shiver. But they pushed aside their feelings, they had to see Steven, and kept following them.

Dr. Maheswaran lead them to an elevator, and pressed a button. She coughed and asked them, "So how'd you meet Steven and Connie? I've never seen you around before and I like to think I can remember faces."

Frisk took a moment to think of how to phrase their response, and with some help from Chara responded "Was playing on a hill, and Steven came by. Became friends."

Connie's brow raised questioningly at that but remained silent while her mom continued. "Is it that same hill where he lives? Because that's one of the few places around there that seems able to let him hurt himself like he has."

Frisk shook their head. "That was later… he was showing me the sunset."

She frowned. "So it was from the hill then? What were you two doing near the edge?"

Frisk frowned and stared down at their shoes. This was always the hard part getting to a new even in Frisk's opinion, finding a way to keep everyone's secrets and make everyone happy. "We weren't."

"Oh so the part of the hill you two were on wasn't solid?" She asked curiously, drawing a worried glance from Connie.

Frisk just silently shook their head, unable to think of what to say. So Connie answered for them. "Steven's always been energetic Mom. So him being on top of the hill isn't a good idea."

Her mom raised a brow at that and the corner of her mouth turned down in a frown. "Uhuh… well if it's the same hill as I think it is, I'm surprised he's as well as he is." The elevator dinged, signalling that they had arrived at their destination.

They began walking down some halls, but before they got far a nurse approached them. "Doctor Maheswaran, we need you to look at something."

Dr. Maheswaran glanced back at them. "Make sure to watch over your friend Connie." Then she walked off, nurse having handed her a clipboard and took her in the opposite direction. Two steps away she paused, then turned back around. "Can't believe I forgot, Steven's room is 211, just follow the signs."

They continued without Dr Maheswaran and eventually found the room. Mr Maheswaran knocked politely and Mr. Universe's voice tiredly replied, "Yes?"

"It's Mr. Maheswaran and Connie." Mr. Maheswaran answered.

"Come in." Mr. Maheswaran opened up the door and they trailed in after him, Connie going before them in a hurry. Following after they walked into the room, a steady beep sounding throughout the room, eyes drifting over to Mr. Universe sitting in a chair opposite them and behind the bed, who waved tiredly at them, bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept. He still wore the same sleeveless white shirt and short jeans he had the night before, his sunburned skin and long hair making him look almost homeless. On the bed was Steven, pale under the overhead light, propped up against a pillow and bed that went upright, a shallow breath escaping his lips every few seconds.

Connie immediately ran over to the bedside, stopping beside Mr. Universe and staring intently at Steven. "How is he?"

Mr. Universe sighed, Mr. Maheswaran coming to sit beside him. "He hasn't woken up once and they've been having trouble since he's part-gem." A hand went over his face to wipe at his eyes. "All they can really do is watch his heartbeat." Frisk slowly approached the bed themselves to get a closer look at Steven, trying to not draw attention to themselves while doing so. Mr. Universe noticed them and looked up at them, another sad wave. "Oh hi there. You're Steven's new friend right?" They nodded their head.

"We didn't meet in the best of circumstances." Holding out a hand he continued, "I'm Greg, his dad."

Taking the hand, that engulfed theirs, they shook it and quietly responded "Frisk."

Letting go he leaned back in his seat. "Can you tell me what happened to get him like this?"

Frisk stared at Steven's body, saw the state he was in because of them, and said the only thing they could. "He saved me."

"From one of those Gem monster things? They show up around the temple all the time." He said, staring at Steven too.

"No."

He looked to them at that with a slight frown. "One of the Homeworld Gems then?"

Before they could respond Connie interrupted again. "Frisk doesn't uh, know too much about Gem things. But Steven saved you from some Gems trying to hurt you right?" She asked.

Frisk thought for a moment, and decided that it was technically true. Thus decided, and feeling that Connie was trying to keep the Crystal Gems involvement a secret, responded simply "Yes."

Mr. Maheswaran frowned and looked between them all. "Can somebody tell me exactly what we're talking about with monster and Homeworld Gems?"

Mr. Universe looked to Connie. "You didn't tell him anything?" She shook her head and he sighed, before standing up and looking back at Mr. Maheswaran. "It's a long story and I haven't had anything to eat since…. Well yesterday. Since Connie's here to watch him, how about I explain over some breakfast?"

Mr. Maheswaran stood up with him. "That can work." Together they both begun to leave. "You really should've gotten something to eat Greg." Was what he said before shutting the door behind them, leaving them all alone in the room.

When they left Connie turned towards them. "So what really happened?"

"He saved me." Frisk shrugged not looking at her, hopping she would drop it.

"I already know that. What I don't know is from what or anything that really happened. All I know is my best and first real friend is unconscious on that bed." She said matter-of-factly, looking at Steven.

Frisk sighed, deciding that she really does deserve to know, and began. "He went down to see you, and Ruby appeared. I dodged, Chara asked why they were so intent on wanting me dead, Ruby replied that we were messing up the timeline, and were ending so many of them. We made a deal that, if we let ourselves die, the Gems would leave the Monsters alone. Then Steven took the attack."

Connie shook her head. "I told you Steven wouldn't let you die."

"He should have." Frisk muttered.

"Not in his mind." She replied, sliding lower in her chair. "Besides I thought you dying meant everything reset?"

Sighing, they responded, "I could let go at anytime. Let the world continue on without me. I'm just too selfish to let that happen."

"More selfish to let yourself go. At least according to Steven."

"How so? Everyone wanted me dead. My soul would set them free." Frisk muttered in response, sitting themselves into one of the chairs that Mr. Universe and Mr. Maheswaran left vacant, staring down at the floor.

"They're all free now aren't they? And your friends right? How would all of them feel if you suddenly disappeared on them, when they care about you?"

"They'd probably forget about me eventually, move on. Besides, it'd be better that they're sad than dead."

She shook her head again. "Or Steven could've talked to the Gems this time since he's your friend. This obviously hasn't happened before otherwise you wouldn't have let it happen." Sighing she added on, "But what do I know, you're the one with the time-line things."

Why can't she understand? It's not that complicated. "Might not have worked. Had a chance to fix everything, make the Gems happy, protect the monsters, why not take it?"

Connie remained silent for a few moments. "You do realize you can rely on other people right? That's the whole point of having friends, people you can rely on and have fun with."

Frisk looked at her confused. "What do you mean? We've always had to do everything."

She looked at their face then sighed once more,, one hand running through her hair.. "Well think of this as a new chance with two new friends. Who only have your best interest at heart, regardless of what might happen."

"You have other interests." Frisk tiredly sighed. Really, why did they have to explain it all? "You care about Steven. Steven cares about the Crystal Gems. I can't make you decide if something comes up, I have to handle it myself."

"And one of Steven's interests is whatever a friend needs help with, he's dropped things before to help anybody and everybody. You consider protecting Monsters your duty, he considers protecting friends to be his duty."

' _I guess I have to point it out plainly.'_ Frisk sighed "So would he protect me, or you?"

"He'd protect us both." She said. "Even if you make it some scenario where that was impossible, he'd still try to protect both of us."

"Then we both die, and it'd be my fault for making him choose. That's why I have to handle stuff, the only one at risk, the only one to get hurt."

"Or it'd be my fault for him choosing since you're his friend too."

"It wouldn't be your fault, cause you can't fix everything." Frisk said looking at Connie, getting frustrated " _I can_. With my DETERMINATION, I can save everyone. What right do I have to life, over everyone else's?".

"What right do you have to decide you don't need anyone's help?" She asked, finally turning away from Steven and to them. "When I tried helping you, you seemed fixed on the fact that it was still all by yourself, trying pay me. It's easier with a friend trying to help you." She said with a small smile.

"And then you'd get hurt, and it'd all be my fault." Frisk muttered staring back down at the ground, eyes burning. "You'd be hurt just because you're friends with me."

A hand went to their shoulder. "As your friend I don't really care about being hurt. Didn't scare me away from Steven, won't scare me away from you."

"That still doesn't mean you deserve to be hurt." Frisk mumbled.

"And you don't deserve to be hurt either." She stated. "But we're both friends and both want to protect each other. So isn't it better if we do things together?"

Frisk remained quiet for a moment, thinking. Figuring that it would make Connie happy, and they could just reset if it turns out to be a mistake, they quietly replied. "I guess."

Her hand tightened in what was meant to be a reassuring grip. "You okay?"

They shook their head in response. They haven't been okay in a long time.

She was silent in turn for a few seconds. "Anything I can do to help you feel better?"

Frisk never got a chance to respond, because right then voices filtered through the door. "304, 305, and 306! Come on, he's in here!" The door busted open to reveal the Crystal Gems, minus Garnet and little Ruby there in her place. It took all of two seconds for the three Gems to lock eyes with them, two pairs of eyes full of silent rage and the third surprise outlined by redness from crying.

Ruby's eyes narrowed as she stalked forward, followed by Amethyst and then Pearl. Ruby hissed out at them, "What are you doing here?"

Frisk stood up, and took a step away and to the side from the bed, making sure that Steven wasn't between them, before answering. "I wanted to see him." Connie stood up too, gaze flicking back and forth between them.

Ruby walked around the bed to stop in front of them gritting her teeth, smoke rolling off of her. "You don't deserve to be here you little freak." She growled, jabbing a finger at them.

Frisk took a step back, one arm holding the other self-consciously. "I know."

Connie stepped behind them and put her hand on their shoulder again, with a small smile. Then she looked to the Crystal Gems. "Steven got hurt protecting them, so I don't see why they can't stand by to help him in turn."

"And it's their damn fault he got like this in the first place!" She shouted, jabbing a finger at them. Pearl and Amethyst remained silent themselves and hung back. "If they hadn't of come here Steven would be perfectly fine!"

Connie shook her head. "They haven't tried to attack anybody but you guys yet, because of that timeline thing. You're afraid of that, fine, just stop trying to attack them."

Ruby grit her teeth in irritation. "That's not the point. They're a danger to all of reality! When me and Sapphire are fused we can see thousands of futures with but a glance!" She jabbed a finger at them, a small burst of flame erupting. "And all those futures keep ending for no reason, just gone with nothing beyond them and at the source of it all! Is. This. Freak." She growled.

Frisk sighed, and interjected "You really want to fight? Can't do it here." Then they turned towards the window, opened it, and looked down, gauging the drop. Three stories, they had worse, and there was even a bush to break the fall. They won't need the jetpack.

"What are you doing Frisk?" Connie asked.

"They wanna fight, can't do it here." With that said, they slipped themselves onto window ledge, and over, quickly ending up in the bushes below. They got out, and patted themselves down, assessing the damage. Just a few scratches and a bruise on their butt, nothing bad.

They began to walk out into the parking lot, and a few moments later the Crystal Gems jumped down, led by Ruby. Ruby immediately spoke up behind them. "Is that deal of yours still open?"

Turning around, they shook their head. "Steven got hurt stopping it. Can't do it behind his back."

She snarled at them. "If you would have just made the deal the first time none of this would've happened." She punctuated with a thrust of her arm to the side.

"That wasn't suppose to happen. Didn't know what you wanted." Frisk replied shaking their head sadly, ignoring Chara insulting Ruby for blaming Frisk.

Narrowing her eyes Ruby stalked forward a few steps. "No matter what was 'supposed' to happen you always would have hurt him. Always would have hurt everyone because you keep making the timelines end. Somehow someway you make everything stop again and again." She growled at them.

Frisk just sighed in response, recognizing that tone of voice. It's like Undyne's, when she gave her speech about the good of monsterkind. There is no avoiding this fight, nothing they can say or do to dissuade her, they just have to survive till they stop. "Can't let myself die right now. Steven would be upset."

"Better he's upset then dead because of you." She replied, curling her fists. Frisk just stood there silently, ready. There wasn't anything else they could say. Her right hand glowed, summoning her right glove to try and beat them. "Fine then, I'll just have to kill you the hard way then." The other two gems spared a glance at each other, not making a move forward yet.

That didn't stop Ruby from launching forward at them, her face contorted in rage with a fist reared back much like Garnet but smaller. In a few steps she reached them and jabbed forward, them responding by stepping back and out of the way, Ruby following after them with constant jabs and lunges. Each step back and away from her only served to infuriate her, snarl getting more and more pronounced. Backed up against a car they ducked under another strike, it easily bending said car, and rolled away from her as a burst of flame erupted around her.

Just something else to look out for. Whipping her head back towards them she screamed and lunged at them, fist landing and impaling itself into the ground as they jumped back and away from her, more heat coming off of her in a wave along with more flame licking at her arm as she pulled it back out of the ground. Glancing towards the other two gems, they note that they still haven't joined in, and actually looked unsure what to do. Maybe only Ruby was so dead-set on this, would certainly make their job easier if that is true.

That brought them back to Ruby as she screamed and jumped at them again, intent on nothing but beating them into a bloody pulp. Again they rolled out of the way, her sailing past and into another car, setting off the alarm on it, the alarms starting to become a chorus of honks and beeps. ' _Come on, Frisk. Let's just poof them. Steven told us that that doesn't really hurt them, and it would be easy with the Gun.'_ Dodging yet another attack and scream of fury, Frisk resolutely shook their head. Fighting was not the answer, and they had to find the right answer. ' _Fine, whatever, you darned pacifist.'_

After dodging several more attacks, with Ruby seeming to get angrier and angrier with each miss, the air literally starting to shimmer with her rage, when a shout rang through the air. "Stop it Ruby!" Ruby slowed down to look towards who was shouting, her swing missing wildly and giving them a momentary break, which they used to put a few feet of space between them. Looking towards the familiar shout they saw Connie sprinting towards them from behind the other two Gems.

Ruby looked towards her with a scowl that only deepened as the other two Gems just stepped out of the way for her but didn't make a move towards them. Ruby watched with a silent snarl as Connie ran up to them, past her and stopped in front of them, panting for breath. She took a moment to catch her breath before setting her gaze on Ruby in front of her. "What do you think… you're doing?"

Ruby's fist tightened in in anger and she hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm getting rid of the freak."

Connie shook her head. "They're not a freak. They're a friend of Steven who got hurt trying to protect them, which you're trying to do right now, outside of the hospital that he's comatose in." Connie said a finger pointing to the hospital. Frisk wasn't sure what's going on, but stepped up close behind Connie, leaning around her to see Ruby, putting them in position to move Connie out of the way in case Ruby attacks again.

Ruby cast a short-lived glance towards the hospital. "It is a freak of nature. It screws with time, it's not human because it's perfectly fucking fine after being beaten to the brink not even two days ago. It's not a gem either because we checked."

"They're not average, you're right about that, but they're not a freak." Connie retorted. "And because they're different you want to try and kill them? They're Steven's friend and mine. I'm not going to let you hurt them."

Ruby's eye twitched, boring into Connie. She turned her gaze back to her compatriots behind her, both making an effort not to meet her gaze by looking to the side or down at the ground. More smoke seemed to come off of her as she looked back at them fists clenching and unclenching again. Her breathing seemed to quicken as she shut her eyes and gritted her teeth. A few moments of that passed before she suddenly reared her fist back and punched into the ground, it parting way easily for her strike, with cracks spreading outwards from it. Connie half flinched at that but Ruby didn't do anything else, instead starting to walk away, smoke and heat pouring off of her even more.

Even though Ruby was walking away her voice kept getting louder, thanks to her shouts and yells steadily getting more and more frantic. But the other two Gems didn't make any moves to follow after her, instead leaning towards each other to whisper, both suddenly seeming tired. Connie meanwhile turned towards them with a frown. "You alright?"

Frisk nodded in response, giving her a bright smile to relieve her worries.

Still wearing a frown she sighed and shook her head, looking back up to the hospital. "You jumped from the third floor… Why? I could have talked Ruby down, you just saw I could."

They shrugged. "She was determined to fight. No convincing them before, only after. Like Undyne."

She reached out with one hand and squeezed their shoulder. "You know Monsters so I can't say anything to that. But I know the Gems and I can tell you that I could talk them down, like I said I'm going to be here to help you." She said, finally dropping the frown and smiling at them.

Frisk wasn't convinced, but that wasn't what Connie would want to hear, so they responded "Okay."

Not realizing their small lie Connie smile grew. "Good, now come on let's go back to Steven's room."

They nodded in acceptance, and got ready to follow after her when the other Gems called out to Connie. Or more precisely Amethyst called out with Pearl remaining silent beside her. "Hey Connie, can you tell us what's going on? Ruby hasn't explained anything to us yet."

Connie came to a stop, then walked over to them. "She hasn't said anything yet? At all?" The Gems shook their heads.

"Only what she's ranted so far. Garnet didn't say anything either." Amethyst said with a scowl and crossing her arms.

"Well… ummm." Connie scratched her head. "Basically Frisk here, whenever they die they reset time to a certain point. I was thinking that with Garnet's future vision whenever they do that reset, the future kind of ends because of it. Thus the whole ending of future."

The Gems both blinked in surprise, sharing a look of disbelief. Pearl was the first to speak up. "That's… highly improbable."

Connie shrugged. "Steven told me about it, and I doubt he would lie. Not to mention he's bright and I don't think he'd be fooled too easily."

Amethyst narrowed her eyes at them while Pearl looked back to the hospital. Amethyst sighed. "I'm going to go make sure Ruby doesn't do anything stupid." She followed after the scorch marks left over from where Ruby walked then looked over her shoulder to Pearl. "You should stay behind and watch Steven." Pearl nodded and she walked off.

Pearl looked at them both for a second, offered a nod to Connie and a blank stare to them, then went back inside to the hospital, leaving them behind. "Well at least they're sort of okay with you." Connie muttered.

Frisk nodded, and they began to walk to the hospital before Frisk paused, remembering something. "Hold on." They quickly trotted over to the car that Ruby punched, and pulled out their cell-phone, and extracted 40 G, placing it on the hood to pay for the damages. They moved to the other car and did the same, before returning to Connie, giving her a bright smile to indicate that they were done.

She blinked at the piles on each car. "How much gold do you have exactly?"

"2784 G." They replied simply.

She looked at the piles again. "If that's really real gold, then about ten pieces alone would suffice. Also we'd need to make sure that somebody else doesn't take it. Not sure how to do that though."

Frisk frowned in thought, and turned to look at the cars as well. "Leave a note?"

She shrugged. "You have a piece of paper in your phone? And something to write with?"

"No. Receptionist?"

"Let's pick up the gold first? I wouldn't trust people to not take a pile of gold like that sitting in the open." She commented looking around.

"I have plenty, I don't need it." They said, waving off her concern.

Shaking her head with a smile she started the walk back into the hospital. "Good that you care about helping to fix stuff. Or pay for it anyways. Gems don't really do much for that."

Frisk just shrugged. They had a lot to pay back, so it just felt obvious for them to do what they could.

AN: Sorry for the long delay, been dealing with IRL things and problems along with some minor writer's block regarding SU. Hope ya'll still enjoy reading it.


	10. Coping Through

Frisk sat silently in Steven's hospital room, watching him slowly breath in and out. They were trying their best to not think about how Steven is in this state because of them, and Chara was being unusually quiet as well. Connie to their side seemed as if she might be dozing off, or carefully thinking something over, eyes closed and head propped up with one arm. Pearl sat on the other side of the bed, silently brushing Steven's hair with some ornate comb that she had on hand, not having once looked over at them, much less say anything to them.

They remained this way for a couple minutes until Mr. Universe and Mr. Maheswaran came back in, making Connie sit back upright in her chair. Mr. Universe frowned as he looked over to see Pearl. "Oh uh hey Pearl. Where's Ruby and Amethyst?"

She brushed another time before stopping for a few moments simply saying, "Out for a walk. Ruby was upset."

"Well I suppose she would be wouldn't she?" He asked himself with a sigh and sat down in the one free chair left besides Pearl, Mr. Maheswaran standing beside him. "Just to ask you guys, you all wouldn't know what was going on in the parking lot would you? Bunch of cars got ruined by something."

Frisk's hand clenched on their pant's leg, trying to think of what to say, but before they had to say anything Connie replied, "No, I don't see how we'd know while up here. What happened to the cars?"

Mr. Maheswaran shook his head. "Somebody rammed their car, or something along those lines, into other people's cars. Set the alarms off on several and ruined three others." He crossed his arms with a frown. "People these days."

Frisk remained silent as the two adults started talking about what could have happened to the cars outside, along with Mr. Maheswaran asking Pearl a few things about herself. Connie went back to her thinking or napping and settled her head back on her hand. The small talk managed to go on for a decent amount of time until a groan from the bed halted everyone in whatever they were doing. Everyone watched Steven to see if what they heard was right, Pearl already standing beside the bed with a hopeful smile.

When Steven opened his eyes everyone, minus Mr. Maheswaran and Frisk, rushed over to his bedside with a chorus of, "Steven!"

Frisk stood behind them, nervously fiddling their fingers, unsure whether they should join or not. They were the reason Steven got hurt after all, and these are his friends and family, so it's probably best to just let them do what they do.

Steven looked at the three of them crowding around him with a half-smile, which quickly turned into a grimace when he tried moving. Pearl gently laid her hand on his shoulder, keeping him from moving again and hurting himself again. "Hey."

Pearl gave him a big smile. "How are you doing Steven?" Connie gave him her own smile from the edge, Mr. Universe looking over Pearl's shoulder.

He forced a smile. "I'm good." He blinked and looked around the room before seeing them. "Hey you're okay." Pearl followed his gaze with a slight frown but didn't say anything.

Being noticed their hand gripped the other nervously before they nodded in response. Here they are without a scratch, while Steven hurts to even move.

Steven frowned at them, his movements stopped before they begun by Pearl. "Are you?"

"Fine as a daisy." They supplied, putting on a smile, trying to get him to not worry about them.

He frowned and narrowed his eyes before looking to Pearl. "Can you help me sit up?" She nodded vigorously and looked over the bed before locating a button and pressing it, it setting his bed upright and him into a sitting position.

"Should we be moving him?" Mr. Universe asked.

Mr. Maheswaran shrugged. "I'm not sure. But I'll go get a nurse, I know that much." He said turning to the door and leaving the room. Connie looked at the door then back at Steven.

"I need to go make sure he doesn't get lost and he gets somebody." Steven smiled at her as his okay without moving all that much. She dashed out after her father leaving just four people in the room.

Mr. Universe shook his head with a sigh then turned to Steven. "So what hurts Steven?"

"Just aches a bit. Hurts when I move too." He looked over at them and smiled again. "I don't regret it though." … what? Seeing their confusion, he continued "I'd do it again for a friend anytime."

"But you're hurt." They protested, a bit of a whine entering their voice.

Mr. Universe frowned and looked between them. While Steven kept that same smile. "I'm okay with that. I'm as tough as a rock." The pun brought a small smile to their lips and caused Steven to chuckle, though both were quickly stopped when the laugh turned into a groan.

Frisk stared down at their shoes in contemplation, fists clenched at their sides as they worked up the courage to ask "Don't hate me?"

"Of course not." He said with a frown. "Why would I?"

"I hurt you." Frisk quietly replied.

"I got myself hurt." He disagreed.

"Because of me."

"Because I chose to."

"You wouldn't have if we didn't make that deal." Frisk replied, getting frustrated.

"What deal?" Steven asked, Mr. Universe creasing his brow in thought.

The question took the wind out their sails, and after a few moments they nervously responded "They leave the Monsters alone, I don't LOAD."

Steven frowned in silence for a few moments before saying, "I could have chosen not to do it you know. Like you made that deal to protect others I did this to help you."

"But- but, I'm…. me." They trailed off, knowing the argument was terrible but it felt like that distinction made all the difference in the world.

"Who has friends to help them with things like this." He said a hand halfway going up to express something but quickly dropped back down with another grimace.

"They shouldn't get hurt for me." They quietly protested, getting another thoughtful look from the other two in the room.

"And you should?" They couldn't answer that, all they could do was stare down at their shoes. "So don't worry about me."

They were quiet for a moments, before asking again, having to be sure "Sure you don't hate me?"

"I already said no Frisk." He said with a gentle smile.

"Oh." Was their response, having no idea how to respond to this. They got use to being hated, when people learned about resets, or when they hurt them. Steven not hating them, that never happened before.

Before anybody could add anything, both Pearl and Mr. Universe seeming confused, the door opened again with Mr. Maheswaran holding it open and several nurses coming in. Lead by Dr. Maheswaran who made a beeline straight for Steven. "We're glad to see you awake Steven, how do you feel?"

"It hurts to move a bit." He said through gritted teeth.

She nodded and stood next to him, craning over him. "At least you're awake…" She trailed off thinking of something. Then she turned to them. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask everyone but Mr. Universe to leave, we have a few tests to run on Steven to see how he's doing."

Pearl looked back at Steven with a frown and kissed him on the forehead before standing up. "Y-you're going to get better Steven, I know you will." He gave a weak thumbs up, that seeming to be within his ability to do. She smiled at that and left the room.

Connie brushed beside them, coming up to Steven's bedside. "Get better okay Steven?"

"Okay." He replied. She gave him a gentle hug and left, Mr. Maheswaran just nodding to Steven before leaving too. Leaving them as the last person to go.

Nervously they walked up beside him and quietly whispered, making sure none of the adults heard "I could LOAD, undo this."

He frowned at them and whispered back, "I told you I'm not going to have anything like that happen to you again."

They stared at their feet embarrassed, and mumbled "Sorry."

"It's okay. Don't worry I'll be fine in a bit." He said reassuringly.

They nodded, and with a little wave left the room following Connie.

* * *

After a long car-ride back to the Maheswaran residence they all entered the house again, Mr. Maheswaran frowning in thought. In fact the entire ride home he had been frowning in thought, constantly glancing at Connie as though he had wanted to say something. Taking off his coat again he asked, "Connie, have you been on any adventures with Steven?"

Connie frowned and looked up at her father. "Like what?"

"Well…" He trailed off thinking on it further. "Ones where you were attacked by these Gem things?"

She winced a bit at that. "Well uh twice by accident. If you're going to warn me about things like this, Mom's already talked to me about it."

A brow raised at that. "She already knows and didn't tell me?"

Connie shrugged. "I thought she already told you, she spent a while lecturing me about the dangers."

Mr. Maheswaran sighed. "No she didn't… I'll need to talk to her later about that. I'm going to make some lunch for us," He headed to the kitchen before pausing and looking at them. "Do you want anything Frisk?"

Seeing attention has shifted back to them, they put on a smile and nodded. It's important to keep fed when they can. He nodded and went into the kitchen to make something for them to eat, leaving Connie with them. She opened her mouth to say something when her father called out from the kitchen. "Why is there a pile of coins in here?"

Connie looked at them then back at the kitchen door and scratched the back of her head, going to the door entrance. "Err…" She muttered apparently not knowing what to say.

Following her to the door they saw Mr Maheswaran holding one of the G, inspecting it. They happily answered him "Payment."

He looked at them questioningly. "Payment for what?"

Connie looked between them. "Um Frisk is used to paying people for staying at their house. Like hotels and stuff." She answered.

He only frowned at that, looking at the G again and flipping it around in his knuckles. "Why would you need to pay everyone for staying in their house?"

Frisk thought for a moment, there was a term for it but what was it? Chara came to the rescue, and helpfully supplied "Room and board."

He looked at them again then back at the G. "Except you don't have to pay to stay here, we're happy to have you here. What is this though, I don't recognize the currency." He asked holding the G up to the light.

Connie chuckled. "Uh… it's gold."

"Monster money, G." Frisk happily added on.

Mr. Maheswaran blinked. "Gold? A whole pile of gold, right here?" He asked with a nod to the pile. Connie nodded. "Why would our guest have this much gold?"

Connie shrugged and looked to them. "Monsters gave it to me." They replied simply.

He put the G back down. "Monsters gave you gold…" He sighed and shook his head. "Steven attracts some interesting people. Go ahead and grab your… gold again. It's free to stay here."

Frisk shook their head in denial. "Payment."

He blinked, obviously surprised at them insisting they paid. Connie rolled her eyes. "We were arguing about them not having to pay earlier and Frisk wouldn't accept the idea of not paying."

Frowning he picked up a G again. "And why do you want to pay so much?"

"Not that much." They shrugged in response. They didn't even spend any G this time round, so they had plenty.

"Not what I meant, but to that point this is too much. What I was asking is why are you set on paying us?" He asked crossing his arms.

"You helped me." They don't understand why they are having a hard time understanding this. It's not christmas or their birthday or something, so why should something be free?

He took a deep breath. "Alright so a good comparison here is that I'm a hotel manager and I get to decide the price, correct?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yeah?" They responded slowly, wondering where he's going with this.

"So I can say if the price is all this gold here," He gestured to the pile. "Or I can say the price is the same here." He gestured to a counter free of items.

"But there's nothing there." They said confused.

"Exactly. The price is nothing. I'm not going to take your gold." He stated.

"How can you charge nothing?" They asked, though their thoughts went back to that bird that carried them across the gap, free of charge despite how strange the thought was.

"Because I make my money as a night-guard. Not a hotel manager. If a friend of my daughter needs a place to stay, I'm not going to charge them." He said looking at the G's with a frown.

"Oh...kay?" They responded, still not really understanding it but accepting the idea none the less. They walked over to the pile of coins, and pulled out their phone.

He looked down at them and asked with a raised brow. "How exactly have you been carrying around all this gold anyways?"

"Like this." They replied, having pressed a few buttons they began to scoop the coins into their phone, the coins disappearing when they got close.

He opened his mouth to say something then closed it, having thought over what he was going to say and thinking better of it. Leaving their side he went over to the fridge. "Are you fine with a sandwich?" They nodded in acceptance as he started making one for each of them, before putting each one on a plate and handing it off to each of them when he finished.

"May I take Frisk up to my room?" Connie asked as she got hers, to which Mr. Maheswaran nodded. As soon as they got theirs she turned to them. "Well you want to see my room?"

Frisk nodded while nibbling on their sandwich, thinking fondly back to the 'dates' they had with Papyrus. They hope this will go as well as those did.

Waving them on after her she walked over to the stairs and went up them, pausing for them to follow before resuming her pace. They reached the top and followed her to the first door on their right, Connie opening it up to reveal her room. The walls were the same pale brown as the rest of the house, a light yellow rug set in the half of the room opposite her bed, set underneath a desk, bookcase full of books, a violin case and duffel bag. A set of folding doors for what was probably her closet opposite her bed, covered in a yellow blanket and pillows. "So this is my room." Connie said as she shut the door behind them.

Feeling like being silly, Frisk let out an appreciative whistle. "Fan-cy."

She giggled at that. "Not really, compared to my last house it's nothing. Glad you like it though." She set her plate down on her desk before clapping her hands together. "So uh do you like reading?" She asked nodding to the bookcase full of novels.

Frisk, feeling mischievous, replied. "Not particularly, but Chara does."

' _Wait, what?'_ Without answering the question, Frisk shoved control over the body over to Chara, giggling. Obviously not expecting it, their body stumbled before Chara caught them and questioned "Frisk!?" Glancing at Connie, who seemed surprised, Chara turned around and frantically whispered "I'm not good with people, you are!"

' _You will do fine, just don't try to be rude.'_ Frisk consoled them.

"Friiisk!" Chara whined in response, really not liking her odds of not just making Connie hate them.

' _Please try._ '

"Grrr, fine." Turning back to Connie, Chara rubbed her left arm with her right and muttered. "Hi."

Connie looked at them for a few seconds before shaking her head and waving at them with a smile. "Uh hey Chara. You uh, like reading?"

Blushing a little, she embarrassedly muttered "A little." Frisk had to suppress a giggle at her understatement.

"Well what type of books do you like? I have a good selection of books to choose from." She said with a hopeful tone again looking towards her bookcase.

Ignoring her question, Chara wandered over to the indicated bookshelf to see what was there. One book in particular caught her eye, and she pulled it out to look at the cover of a blond girl in a snow suit, with an eagle behind her. "What's this one about?"

Connie clapped again and came up next to them with a massive grin plastered on her face. "Oh this is my favorite series, it's called Unfamiliar Familiar! It's about a young witch girl named Lisa who doesn't know she's a witch, alongside her familiar Archimicarus, on a quest to find her missing father. It's a great book in my opinion."

"Can I read it?" She asked, trying to sound calm but a note of eagerness slipped into her voice.

Connie nodded with that grin still on her face. "I can read it for you too if you want, I always love re-reading it again and coming back to it."

"Sure." Chara replied, a small smile on her face. Frisk was also rather interested, they never had anyone besides Toriel read them a story before.

Connie reached out for the book and Chara handed it over, then jumped onto her bed and patting the spot beside her. "Come on then." Chara sat herself down beside Connie, making sure to seat herself a respectable distance away, but still close enough to see the words on the book. Connie opened up the book and cleared her throat, before reading off, ""Lisa awoke with a start, the echoes of her dreams still dancing in her mind, the low rumble of thunder murmured through the quiet house. The house was deathly still, the only sound Lisa could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears."

As Connie read, Chara slowly scootched closer for a better look at the words, and Frisk decided to to not mention Chara not minding being in close proximity with another person, instead just happy about their friend slowly coming to trust Connie. After a couple dozen pages Connie stopped for a moment and lifted her head up to take a few experimental sniffs of the air. They looked up at her curiously as she eventually turned to them with another sniff then wrinkled her nose slightly. "Say uh… when was the last time you took a shower?"

They both blinked at that, the question coming out of nowhere. Trying to think of when the last time was, all Frisk could say for certain was that it was before the Underground. Chara answered for them "Two days? Why?"

"You uh… smell a bit." Connie said haltingly.

Their face became red as they realized what she was talking about, and Chara defensively spat, "Well, the Underground doesn't have any bathrooms, and Hotlands comes AFTER Waterfall so there's nowhere to wash off."

Connie held her hands up in her own defense and said, "You can use my shower if you want, I can't imagine going two days without a shower."

"Well fine then, I will take a shower." At Frisk's prompting, Chara added on "Thank you."

Nodding Connie slid off her bed and lead them back out into the hallway to another door, opening it up to reveal the bathroom. A small one but still somehow spacious with bathtub slash shower at the farthest end. "Well there's soap and shampoo in the shower, towels on the back of the door and turn the knob to the right for hot water, left for cold."

"Alright." Chara replied, waiting for Connie to leave so they can get started. A simple nod and she backed out of the bathroom and shut the door behind her. They let out a sigh, and took off their sweater, and then began unwrapping the bandages from their arms. Frisk winced occasionally in their head as the old bandages were a bit stuck, but they powered through, wouldn't be good to get them wet and have to wait for them to dry and get their sweater bloody.

Once fully undressed, they fiddled with the shower controls till they figured it out, and began to relax in their first hot shower in what seems like forever. ' _You seem to not mind Connie.'_ Frisk poked.

' _Yeah, well, she's trying. That automatically makes her better than most Humans.'_

Frisk just hummed noncommittally, they have argued on this before, it's better to not challenge her on it.

Once they were done, they stepped out and dried themselves off with a towel. Then, they began to reapply their bandages, shifting them around to try to get the non-dirty parts against the cuts. The bandages were still kinda gooey from before, which was gross, but they ignored it. Next, they simply put back on their clothes and are good to go.

They walked out of the bathroom and returned to Connie's room. As they entered Connie looked up from her book and frowned at them. "Do you not have clothes in that phone thing of yours?"

Chara began to list off "We have a Cowboy Hat, Fadded Ribbon, Manly Bandana, Old Tutu, some Cloudy Glasses, and a Stained Apron, but those are more Armor than clothes. Why?"

"Because there's no point of taking a shower if you're going to put on the same clothes." Connie stated before looking over towards her closet. "If you want, you could borrow some of mine?"

"I guess if you have some old clothes that'd fit us." They were smaller than Connie after all.

Connie bobbed her head back and forth as she went towards her closet. "I think I have some older clothes that might fit you. Maybe." She said opening it up and looking through it. She ran her fingers over some of them as she spent a minute looking through it before grabbing one near the back. "Maybe this would fit." Said item in question being a small greenish dress with short sleeves.

It was a rather pretty dress, and seemed to be their size, only one problem. The short sleeves. Chara rejected "Nu-uh. Gotta have long sleeves."

Connie blinked and looked at the dress then back to them. "Are you cold or something?" She asked putting it back up in the closet. "I could ask my dad to turn up the heat."

"No, just need long sleeves."

Connie raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "Okay then." A few seconds before she pulled out a long-sleeved blue shirt before pausing and then pulling out a lighter blue skirt. "How're these?"

Stepping closer Chara grabbed them and inspected them personally. "Look like they will fit. Guess I will go try them on."

"If you want I could pick some other stuff out for you just in case it doesn't fit?" Connie offered.

"Sure." Chara left the room and went into the bathroom to change. The clothes fit them rather well, surprisingly. A bit big, but they have had worse.

Returning to Connie's room once more they saw a small assortment of clothes laid out on her bed, all long-sleeved like Chara had asked. When they closed the door she turned around to look at them and smiled. "It looks nice on you."

Chara blushed at the unexpected compliment and looked to the side, muttering out a "Thank you."

Smiling at them still she looked to her bed. "Well there's some other clothes if you need some or until you go back home. I'll just put them beside the bed if you want them later."

Chara nodded in response, and their eyes wandered back to the book, which was also on the bed. "Can we continue reading?" Chara asked hopefully.

Connie nodded and after moving some of the clothes out of the way and to the side hopped back onto her bed, opening the book once more with Chara hopping back onto the bed beside her as Connie begun to read again.


	11. How to be Friends With a 'Demon'

Connie awoke with a quiet gasp, another nightmare for another night having woke her up. A quick check of the room around her to make sure of the fact nobody was dead. No, it was just her room and a hot bed, with her heart thundering in her ears, bed wet from sweat. Another night in a row with another nightmare, ruining her sleep. Sighing she rubbed the bridge of her nose, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon with the image of a dead Steven in her mind.

Not going to be able to sleep anytime soon. Kicking the covers off of herself she slipped off of her bed, heading towards the bathroom to wash off her face. Gingerly opening the door, so as to not wake up anybody in the house, she paused noticing something in the corner of her eye on the floor. Crouching down to get a better look she rubbed some more sleep out of her eyes before recognizing what it was. The clothes she'd given her guest earlier, neatly folded in a pile beside the door, with the Unfamiliar Familiar book placed on top.

Why was their borrowed clothes beside the door? A silent squeak of the front door, something she barely noticed, made her look down towards the stairs a brief moment in wondering who was opening up the front door. Then she bolted upright and did her best to silently jog down the stairs until she could see the living room. There walking out the open front door was Chara in their original clothes from earlier. Blinking in surprise she bounded down the rest of the stairs and called out, "Chara!"

They whirled around in surprise, eyes wide in shock as she half-jogged, half-walked up to a few feet away from them. They stood still for a few moments, looking rather like a deer caught in the headlights, before blurting out "It's not what it looks like."

Connie looked down at them, caught in the threshold of her door, halfway in and halfway out, with arms crossed and gentle frown. Looking back up and out into the street she asked, "What are you two doing then?"

They smiled nervously and, with a short nervous laugh, answered "Going for a walk?"

She didn't buy that. Looking back in the direction of her room she asked, "Why'd you return my old clothes then?"

"I thought a sweater would be, um, warmer?" They tried again.

She stared at them. "Chara. Come on."

They sighed, nervous smile falling off their lips. They were quiet for a moment, staring at the floor, before confiding "It doesn't feel right."

Frowning she kneeled down so she'd be at eye level with them she was puzzled about that statement. "What's wrong? Not paying us for staying?"

"That's part of it. You are doing so much for us, without getting anything yourselves. Not even letting us repay you." They took a step back and began to pace back and forth on the landing. "And we usually don't stay in one place this long except with Mom, and she could probably fight off the entire Underground if she had to. The few times we stayed somewhere else for a while... it went bad. It feels wrong to be staying with your family, putting them at risk, and not even being able to pay them for it. And you keep being so nice, when you barely even KNOW me, and- and, GAH!" They exclaimed in frustration.

"But you're my friend." Connie said sitting down now to watch their pacing. "We've been over this before."

"That's what I'm talking about! How can you like me!? I'm a murderer, a demon, killed everyone I love several times, and you know it! Yet you keep being nice!?"

Closing her eyes and suppressing the grimace that she would have shown otherwise at that statement and keeping in mind the young kid that she had been having fun with earlier. Then keeping in mind who it appeared to be, Chara specifically by looking at how much more verbal Chara was than Frisk, she said, "Well that's not anything like the friend I was having fun reading with earlier, the same one who leaned on me to get a better look at the pages. Or the one who blushed when I complimented how my old clothes fit them. Or the person crying because Steven got himself hurt saving them. Or even when they learned about the fact they needed a shower and got embarrassed over it. I've met the real you." She said with a sad smile.

Again they blushed, apparently embarrassed at all she was saying, and stammered "I- But- But I-"

"You're my friend that I'm worried about walking out of the house in the middle of the night without saying anything." Connie said gesturing out beyond them.

They looked to the side dejectedly, and mumbled "Because you'd stop me."

"Because there's no reason for you to leave. Where would you even go out there?"

"Wherever. We can take care of ourselves, not endanger anyone."

Again with the endangering others objection. "How are any of us in danger because of you? And sure you can take care of yourself but isn't it easier with us together?"

They sighed in response "I TOLD you that people are always out to kill us. And they don't always mind who is present, especially when they leap to our defense. Like I said, the few times we stayed somewhere for a while, things went bad."

The few times they stayed somewhere things went bad? And those people out to kill them didn't care who was present… That reminded her of a throwaway comment they said before, about Mom being able to take on the whole Underground. She watched them with their frown. "Well this is a new chance isn't it? Something that's never happened before, so you can't say for certain about anything."

Sighing, they walked past her into the house and said "I told you you'd stop me."

"Because that's what a friend would do." She said standing up a few moments after they passed by.

"Right, standing in the way of death trying fruitlessly to stop it and save their friends, rather than getting out of the way and surviving. Like Papyrus." Chara replied dryly as they wandered back to the couch.

Following them onto the couch she sat beside them, not quite sure how to respond to that. Considering everything else she'd said so far it was a bit of a surprise to realize that. So instead she just reached around their neck and pulled them closer for a silent hug. They stiffened in surprise, but after a few moments relaxed and just let themselves be hugged, sporting another faint blush. A few silent and peaceful moments passed before something else came to mind. "You guys having trouble sleeping too?"

They turned their head to the side, so that she couldn't see their face, and responded "We try not to."

She frowned and hugged them a little tighter, two things coming to mind with 'trying not to'. And considering everything else with them she was inclined to think the bad option. "You try not to sleep?"

"Yeah."

That was decidedly not healthy nor good for somebody. "When was the last time you slept?" She asked concerned.

They tilted their head back in thought "Three days? Maybe four."

Surprised she let go of them and leaned back slightly. Three days without sleep and they seemed perfectly fine. "Three whole days and you haven't slept?"

They seemed confused at her surprise. "Yeah?"

She blinked again not sure how they could go three days and seem so unaffected and even unfazed at the thought of that. "It's just… how. You don't even care about not sleeping and most anybody who goes a single day without sleep is tired and lethargic."

They shrugged in response. "I guess we got use to it."

She opened her mouth to say something then closed it with a shake of her head. Rethinking she instead asked, "So what have you been doing for the past nights down here? Just sitting and thinking to yourself?"

"Messing around on our phone, mostly. Last night though we finished Unfamiliar Familiar."

She half-smiled at that. But they'd spent the past two nights up all by themselves? "Do you want to read the next one?"

Chara actually smiled at that, excited to continue reading. "Sure! Lisa still has to catch the One-Eyed Man and get revenge." They exclaimed, throwing two mock punches to punctuate 'revenge'.

She smiled at that. "Okay hang on a second." She said before heading back up to her stairs and silently, but swiftly moving up them and back into her room. Pausing to gather the clothes and book she put them beside her bed and grabbed two more of the books from the Familiar series. Going back down the stairs to the living room she flicked on the lights and flashed a small smile while holding up the two books. "So want to read it the same way we did earlier?"

Chara smiled. "Sure." So she opened up the second in the series and started reading, Chara sitting right next to her to read the book themselves too. For half an hour the house was filled with nothing but Connie's voice as she read, Chara eventually going back to leaning on her again. After a while though her throat felt dry from reading off for so long so she paused in her reading and gave a small smile to Chara. "You need something to drink? Because I do."

They nodded. "Some water would be nice."

"Alright." Getting up she went towards the kitchen, heading over to the cabinet to grab a few glasses for both of them. Then pausing as she came near the cabinet and the trash can beside it, something once again catching her eye. Peering into it she saw a red and black mass, something she distantly realized was a really dirty bandage, the black parts looking crusty and cracked, while the red ones still shining slightly from wet, fresh blood. She gagged at the sight of it, not expecting to see it nor having seen anything as disgusting as it before. Tearing her eyes away from it her mind went to the thought of who it belonged to, then to the first aid kit hanging on the wall in plain view on the wall opposite her.

A moment later she was looking inside of the first aid kit and found something that confirmed her earlier thought. Another small pile of gold from her guest where there used to be bandages. With a sigh she turned back to the living room and walked back, Chara raising a brow at her when she sat back down beside them. An idea of where they were injured came to mind thanks to their preference for long-sleeves, but she still asked, "Chara, why do you need bandages?"

"What do you mean?" They asked, sounding confused.

"Old bandages in the trash, our bandages replaced with your gold pieces." She answered with a sad sad smile. A look of realization flashed across their face, before she turned her head to the side, staring at the wall with a stubborn frown, not saying anything. She silently sighed before asking, "Do you know how to put on bandages Chara?"

After a moment, they responded "You just wrap them around the wound, don't you?"

She shook her head. "There's a lot more to it than just that Chara. I know, my mom had me take some first aid training since she's a doctor herself and wanted to make sure I knew how to handle something like that."

Again they were quiet for a few moments, before sighing. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

She knew it was better to agree then say anything else. "I won't tell."

Turning back towards her, they began rolling up their sleeves to reveal the bandages they took. They had them on both of their lower arms, and they were already a bit red from blood. Her eyes went wide at it, it being yet another thing they seemed to not pay any mind to despite the fact a person should. She was about to ask how long they had it before seeing that stubborn frown on their face and shut her mouth instead. Along with the fact she had a good idea as to who exactly was responsible for the injury. "Let me get the kit."

She got back up to grab the first aid kit, pausing to grab a paper towel roll on the way back. They were still waiting on the couch when she set the kit down beside them and she gingerly took one arm and paused at the bandage. "Tell me if it hurts okay?" They nodded in response and she started unwrapping the bandage, the cuts all along the arm helping to back up her thoughts of earlier regarding who might be responsible for it. Looking at the arm she saw the cuts as shallow, narrow and plenty in number, and for every bleeding cut there were several more scars on the arm somewhere. It was all made worse by the fact their arm was dirty despite their earlier shower. Looking it over she sighed. "I think this would work better in the bathroom."

"Ok." They said simply, standing up and waiting for her to lead the way. A few moments to gather the things and she led the way up to the bathroom, they following after with the bandage half-way off their arm now. Creeping up the stairs silently she ushered them before setting the kit back up.

"Do you want me to teach you how to put bandages on right?" She offered, moving them to sit on the edge of the tub and kneeling down beside nodded in response and she held up their half-unwrapped bandaged arm. "Okay first off you're supposed to have your arm clean before wrapping a bandage around it so we need to clean it." Standing up she wet a towel so she could clean the arm then came back next to them. Slowly and methodically she cleaned all around the cuts, not wanting to hurt them too much. After a while of her doing this, they mumbled something, but she couldn't make out what. Slowing down she looked up at them. "Say again?"

A bit louder, they mumbled "They're old, from before the Underground."

Well at least that meant maybe two days since any cuts had happened. "Better to be old than new." She said resuming the cleaning of their arm. It finally done she reached into the kit for something to clean their cuts with. Holding up a wet wipe she added, "Okay now this will hurt a bit but you need to clean your wounds before putting on a bandage." They nodded and she went to work, half-expecting them to at least wince from it. But no, looking up at them she only saw a passive child learning something new from her. Looking back down she shook her head to herself it being a bit unnerving, taking a few minutes to clean.

"That's not what I meant." She looked back up at them, still with that frown, when they began talking again. "We don't do that anymore, it's from before everything."

A small smile came to her lips at that. "That's even better then. Hopefully means you won't have to put this into practice then." She went back to cleaning out the cuts when they didn't say anything more, then throwing away the wet wipe and grabbing a few fresh bandages. "Second thing is that you wrapped it too tightly around the arm and it wasn't layered properly." Showing them how to do it right she stifled a yawn and resumed wrapping it.

Noticing her stifled yawn, they said "If you're tired, you don't have to keep us company."

She shook her head as she wrapped another layer on. "I'm fine. Just exercising the jaw."

"You are not a good liar." They noted idly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She lied again, finishing up that arm's bandage. Then she started unwrapping the other arm.

"Whatever." Chara replied bitterly as she started cleaning off the arm again making her briefly look up. Their frown had deepened hadn't it? A silent sigh over that but she resumed with the bandaging, it taking only a few more minutes before she nearly finished wrapping.

Wrapping the final bit on she asked, "So do you want to finish the book after I put all this up?"

"No." They said, as bitter as before.

Well she did something they didn't like. Done with the bandage she stood back up and started taking care of the left-over garbage from their earlier bandages. "Well you can go back downstairs if you want I just need to take clean up." Chara stood up and walked off, with footsteps a fair bit heavier than they should have been. Yep, they were mad. Over what was a small lie as far as she could tell. A deep breath over the fact they were sometimes hard to handle like this before she started cleaning it all up.

It did give her time to think though. About why something so small to her seemed to upset Chara so much. But considering how much they'd talked and hungt out together, telling her several things that she doubted their family knew, and she had an idea as to why. They were being open about so much and she lied about something after they admitted to the cuts on their arms. That's probably why, she thought to herself as she finished cleaning up.

Grabbing the trash bag to bring it down with her, so her dad wouldn't worry when he woke up she gave the bathroom a final once-over before nodding to herself that it seemed clean. Back down the stairs and she hung the first aid kit back up in the kitchen, then grabbed the garbage out of the kitchen too, heading to the front door and past a still angry Chara. Said anger expressed by them sitting on the edge of the couch with crossed arms and staring at the wall, not moving an inch when she walked past their view. Yeah she should apologize or something if she wanted them to stop being angry.

Carefully opening the door she creeped out to the garbage can out front, having to take a few moments to let her eyes adjust to the darkness of the night and threw away the bandages. She paused at her door thinking over a few ways to phrase an apology for something she would have brushed off herself. Opening up the front door once more she shut it behind her and went back to the couch, sitting down a respectable distance away from Chara. "I'm sorry. For lying I mean, I just thought you've been through enough already and staying up all by yourselfs at night isn't the best way to pass time. Especially with how I barely caught you walking out earlier. So I thought that I could help a bit more by keeping your mind off stuff like that by staying up with you. A few hours of missed sleep isn't that much to help a friend out."

When she finished, they sighed and turned to her, frown still present but noticeably lessened. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I did not like being lied to. It's been… hard, sharing everything I had. And then you refused to even talk about why you are staying up. So I got mad. If you just wanted to not go to bed, you could have said so. I'd be a hypocrite if I said anything against it, since we don't sleep either."

"Sorry… no hard feelings?" She asked.

They sighed and held out their hand. "No hard feelings."

She took the hand and shook it before asking, "Well are you up to continue reading now?"

"Sure." They said, still sounding a bit miffed but not as mad as they were several moments ago. She half-smiled at them before grabbing the book once more and sitting beside them, reading off where she had left it earlier. Chara looked over at the book but didn't scoot over yet, nor did the frown go away from their face. But Chara did relax and sat beside her.

Slowly after an hour Chara's frown relaxed and they went back to leaning against her. So it went on that she told the story to a relaxing Chara and she let a smile creep back onto her face.


	12. A Normal Breakfast

After a while of reading, Connie got slower and started to take increasingly long pauses. When Chara looked up at her to see what's up, they noticed that she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, every few seconds closing her eyes for ten seconds, much longer than an actual blink. More like she was trying, and failing, to stay awake. After a bit, they didn't open again and she stopped outright in her reading, sinking further back into the couch. Apparently having finally failed in staying awake.

Chara sighed, reminded of when Azzy use to doze off next to her, and carefully extricated herself from Connie's side and gently laid her down on the couch, taking the book from her hands and putting it on the side table. Then she got the blankets that were nominally for them to use, and tucked her in, putting a pillow under her head. She then sat down on the other couch and began passing the time messing with the phone, Alphys a number of games on there like Tetris, and decided to wait on continuing the book for when Chara wakes back up.

After a while of them playing on the phone they heard the distinctive creak of the stairs as Mrs. Maheswaran came down them, having come home earlier at night before Connie came down. She appeared in the doorway, thanks to the fact that's where the stairs put her, already clad in her doctor's attire. Half-surprised Chara checked the time on the phone and sure enough it was the morning already. Mrs. Maheswaran looked into the room where they were, a small smile as she looked at them then a look of surprise as she noticed Connie sleeping on the couch. She raised a brow before quietly walking into the room up to them, then asked, "What is Connie doing down here?"

Chara handed control back to Frisk, they were better at this sort of thing. "Fell asleep reading to me." They said, gesturing towards the book beside them.

Mrs. Maheswaran's eyes followed their gesture and she slightly frowned. "She was asleep upstairs when I came home."

Frisk shrugged. "Woke up." She nodded and walked back towards the kitchen, pausing by Connie's sleeping form and tugging the blanket further up. Then she moved back into the kitchen. With that interaction done, Frisk went back to their game of Tetris, deliberately ignoring the slowly climbing Unread Message count at the top of the screen. Better to not string them along incase they don't end up coming back.

After several more minutes of playing Tetris they could hear the distinct sizzling of eggs in the kitchen. Smell it too, Connie evidently smelling it too, judging by the groan coming from her. They looked over to her as she started to wake up, then suddenly flailing off her blanket in a bit of panic, looking around wildly for a few moments before settling her eyes on them. She breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you left for a minute."

Frisk frowned sadly at that. "We wouldn't after you stopped us."

She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, not having seen their frown. "Why didn't you," Yawn. "wake me up?"

"You were tired." They replied simply.

She frowned herself at that, standing up after untangling herself from the blanket. "I was supposed to stay up with you." She then took a sniff of the air and looked towards the kitchen.

They shrugged. "Sleep is good for you. I got my phone."

She shook her head, yawning again, muttering, "What about you?" Then she said more clearly, "I'm going to see what's for breakfast if you don't need something?" Frisk shook their head in response. She trudged off towards the kitchen, obviously tired despite what her complaints she might have had. Again they shifted their focus back to their game of Tetris, they were about to beat their high score. After a few more minutes, and new high level gained, they paused it again for they needed to go to the bathroom. They stood up and started to make their way to the stairs, but paused by the doorway to the kitchen when they overheard a whispered conversation Connie and Dr Maheswaran were apparently having.

"-might need to call the police." Dr. Maheswaran's voice seemed to whisper from the kitchen.

' _Why would she need to call the police?'_ Frisk wondered, as they leaned against the wall beside the doorway.

"What, why?" Connie asked in surprise.

Dr. Maheswaran explained matter of factly."Your father told me that Frisk was distinctly uncomfortable about talking about home." Then she seemed to sound a bit concerned. "Which led me to believe something might have happened." Frisk felt guilty about apparently implicating that about their new family, they wouldn't ever do anything.

"No Frisk is fine at home. Just…" Connie paused, seeming to think of what to say. "wants to be by Steven's side while he's getting better."

"...Okay. How about their parents, do they know that Frisk is here?"

"Well I saw Frisk talking to their Mom a few days ago. With their phone." Connie stated.

"The same one that apparently stores gold?" Dr. Maheswaran asked skeptically.

"Yeah."

"...Why does Frisk have gold? And from where?" She asked curiously.

"I have no idea."

"Then not understanding the concept of free things? Your father said he had to argue with them about having to pay for staying here." Dr. Maheswaran asked questioningly, seeming to find all sorts of questions about them.

"Err… I haven't figured that out either."

"Mmhmm. How much longer will Frisk be staying?"

"I guess until Steven is let out. That's okay right?"

"If I can talk to the parents first. I don't like the fact I haven't heard from them at all yet. About not leaving until Steven gets out, Mr. Universe told me that they seemed to look… guilty when they were talking to Steven earlier. Do you have any idea as to why?"

"No."

"Alright. Well what does our guest want for breakfast?"

"Just a second." Connie said, footsteps rapidly approaching them. Hearing that, Frisk froze up, not knowing what to do to not get caught eavesdropping. While they furiously tried to think of something, they ran out of time as Connie walked out of the doorway, and saw them standing there.

She blinked at them and her eyes darted back to the kitchen. "Uh… so what do you want for breakfast?" She asked seeming to ignore the fact they were eavesdropping.

Frisk couldn't meet her eyes, embarrassed over being caught eavesdropping, and instead their gaze went towards their shoes. After a moment, they answered "Anything's fine."

They could hear her silent sigh. "Come on Frisk, Mom won't take that as an answer. We have plenty of stuff to eat."

They were quiet for a while more, not feeling right asking for stuff from the Maheswarams, and when they worked up the courage they shyly asked "Eggs?"

Connie turned away and walked a bit back into the kitchen. "Frisk would like some eggs. Need anything else Mom?" They didn't hear anything from Dr. Maheswaran but Connie walked back next to them. :"So… sorry about that."

"About what?" Frisk asked looking up, honestly confused what **she** had to be sorry about.

She frowned and left the entryway of the kitchen. "Mom asking what's going on with you and you overhearing it. I tried not to say anything much."

"Nothing else you could have done." Frisk replied.

"Yeah well still you guys didn't want me to say much." She paused. "Want to continue reading or something?" She asked with a smile.

"Bathroom." Frisk said simply before heading off in that direction, it being the reason they got up in the first place.

"Ah, well remember you can wear some of my old clothes if you want to take a shower." She said behind them as they were walking up the stairs.

[hr][/hr]

Dr. and Mr. Maheswaran were silently eating their breakfast of eggs, Connie having fallen asleep on the couch again despite the smell of the food having woken her up earlier. Dr, Maheswaran seemed to be thinking, glancing towards them every few seconds with furrowed brows.

Frisk for their part quietly, though happily, ate their serving of eggs in silence, trying to not draw any more attention to themselves than they are already getting, just by being there. It has been a while since they had eggs, and they were as good as they remembered.

After a bit longer Dr. Maheswaran cleared her throat and said, "Frisk you're wanting to stay here until Steven is better correct?" Frisk nodded in response. "Well If you'd like to stay here I want to talk with your parents, check to see everything is fine." Mr. Maheswaran seemed to look on in interest to see what they would say.

Frisk froze up, they were hoping she'd wait longer before asking, so they could have time to come up with an excuse. Cause currently, they had nothing. Chara had no idea either, beyond flat refusing, but that would come with it's own problems. Dr. Maheswaran raised a eyebrow questioningly but didn't say anything as they kept thinking. Swallowing, and deciding it would be best to bother Toriel than make the Maheswarans upset, they got out their phone and went into their contacts, barely pushing aside the guilt at all the missed messages from her.

But before they could hit call, the screen turned yellow with a black warning symbol, and a alarm played loudly causing them to drop it in surprise, causing it to skid across the floor to the middle of the kitchen. Dr. and Mr. Maheswaran both jumped a bit in surprise, a shriek sounding from the living room as it seemed to wake up Connie. After a few seconds the alarm cut out, and was replaced by Alphys's voice saying "H-Hey, uh, Frisk? If you can hear this, please step away from the phone, we're going to open a portal."

The Maheswarans stood up from their seats, chair falling to the ground behind Dr. Maheswaran. The sound of feet slapping against the floor to their side alerted them to Connie running up into the kitchen followed shortly by her yelling, "What's going on?"

"Frisk?" Dr. Maheswaran questioned haltingly.

Frisk didn't answer, too intent on watching the phone. And after a few seconds, a beam of light shot out of the top of it towards the ceiling, and with a resounding boom opened wide into what looked like a cascading tunnel of light. After that, nothing happened for a few seconds besides a constant low thrumming from the portal, till out of the tunnel of light a figure emerged, clad in armor, long red hair flowing down her head and mouth wide in a confident grin.

The Heroine has appeared.

Her eyes instantly snapped to Frisk, and she spoke. "There you are Frisk, you had us worried. I know you said you had to do this yourself, but I wanted to make sure you know that whatever it is, we are more than willing to have your back." Undyne strode forwards the few steps of space between them and dropped to her knee, putting her hand on their shoulder. "You don't have to do everything yourself, not anymore, you got it? You can-" She was interrupted when Frisk's eyes began to water, and they started to shake. "Woah, hey, you alright?" She asked completely caught off guard, and Frisk just lunged forward, wrapped their arms around her neck, burying their face in the crook of her neck and began crying.

First it was Connie and Steven promising that they were no longer on their own, but now Undyne too? Here she was, claiming she, and everyone else, would stand by them no matter what. And what did Frisk do to them to deserve this? Ignore their messages and calls, trying to block them out. They felt so guilty, and relieved, and scared, that they couldn't process anything else, and they just cried. They felt themselves being picked up and cradled in the nook of Undyne's arm, but they didn't care. All they could focus on at the moment was the vague hope that their life might actually become better, and letting out all the stress that hope had released.


End file.
